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WEDNESDAY Vol. XXXVIII No. 10491 June 21, 2017 Ramadan 26, 1438 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

In brief

QATAR | Rights

NHRC: blockade like His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani visiting the site of the upcoming National Museum of Qatar at the His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was greeted by people, who were a ‘new Berlin Wall’ Corniche. He was welcomed by Chairperson of Qatar Museums HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. pleasantly surprised to see His Highness on the Doha Corniche yesterday. National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) chairman Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri has said the blockade imposed on Qatar is like a “new Berlin Wall”, calling on the European Parliament to act upon the human rights violations of Qatar’s citizens National Museum to open in Dec. 2018 and residents. Speaking at a European Parliament meeting in Brussels, al-Marri urged the body to visit the NHRC headquarters to see Emir visits site of upcoming National Museum of Qatar what he referred to as the suff ering of Qatari citizens due to the new is Highness the Emir Sheikh in December 2018. the impact of rapid change. This mu- knowledge-based economy with a long Sports Museum will open next year. regulations of Saudi Arabia, the UAE Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani The Emir emphasised the impor- seum will give voice to Qatar’s heritage and rich history and give Qatar a voice The National Museum of Qatar is and Bahrain, Al Jazeera reported Hyesterday visited the site of the tance of the Qatar National Vision 2030 whilst celebrating its future. in the world.” built around Sheikh Abdullah bin Jas- yesterday. “This is not just a case upcoming National Museum of Qatar. and how human development sits at HE Sheikha Al Mayassa said: “The Large numbers of Qatari arts and sim al-Thani’s original palace, one of of diplomatic ties being cut off ,” He was taken on a tour of the site the heart of Qatar’s investments. The National Museum is the physical mani- culture experts are involved in de- Qatar’s most recognisable landmarks al-Marri said. “What is happening is by Qatar Museums chairperson HE National Museum of Qatar supports festation of Qatar’s proud identity, veloping the National Museum. The and a building that served as a monu- not a boycott but an unjust blockade Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin this vision. connecting the country’s history with National Museum will also open in ment to a historic way of life in Qatar. and a collective punishment for Khalifa al-Thani, and CEO and chair- The National Museum, designed by its diverse and cosmopolitan present. It the year that the Museum of Islamic This palace has a unique historical Qatar’s citizens and residents.” person’s special adviser Mansoor bin world-renowned French architect Jean will refl ect a part of every Qatari’s life, Art celebrates its tenth anniversary, signifi cance for the State of Qatar and Ebrahim al-Mahmoud. Nouvel, is inspired by the desert rose. representing our roots and identity. a refl ection of Qatar’s long-standing has been recently fully restored. The QATAR | Offi cial On the occasion, HE Sheikha Al The upcoming museum will combine The opening of the National Museum investment in the arts. Mathaf: Arab palace will be a fi tting central exhibit Mayassa announced that the Nation- historic objects and contemporary in- of Qatar will fi rmly position our coun- Museum of Modern Art opened in within the National Museum when it Emiri Diwan announces al Museum will be officially opened fl uences, opening up a dialogue around try on the global map as a progressive, 2010, and the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and opens. Eid al-Fitr holiday dates The Emiri Diwan has announced Eid al-Fitr holiday dates for ministries, other government institutions and public entities, setting it to start on Sunday, June 25, 2017 and end on Monday, July 3, 2017, with Qatar can weather employees resuming work duties on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Meanwhile, the US blasts Saudi failure start and end dates of Eid holidays for Qatar Central Bank (QCB), banks, boycott: QP CEO financial institutions under QCB’s jurisdiction, and Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) shall be to justify Qatar blockade atar can stay under a “blockade decided by QCB governor. forever” as it is well prepared taken by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the “Now that it has been more than two Qand its oil and gas industries Agencies Washington longer they take to make those claims weeks since the embargo started we are will not be aff ected, Qatar Petroleum RAMADAN THOUGHT public.” mystifi ed that the Gulf states have not (QP) CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said Qatar News Agency said Nauert’s released to the Qataris nor to the pub- yesterday, referring to an economic O mankind! Verily, the Promise he US State Department has ex- remarks came after HE the Foreign lic the details about the claims they are boycott imposed on Doha by some oth- of Allah is true. So let not this pressed doubts over the inten- Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Ab- making toward Qatar,” she said. er Arab countries. present life deceive you, and Ttions of the countries imposing a dulrahman al-Thani said on Monday “The more that time goes by the “With what we have prepared, we let not the chief deceiver (Sa- blockade on Qatar, saying Washington he was surprised that these countries more doubt is raised about the actions can stay under the blockade forever, tan) deceive you about Allah. is “mystifi ed” over the failure of these were yet to present their demands. taken by Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” and our gas and oil industries will not (Qur’an 35: 5) countries to justify their embargo. “They are asking Qatar to comply with she added, in a signifi cant swipe at two be aff ected,” he said in an interview State Department spokeswoman requests they have not made directly.” of Washington’s allies. aired by Al Jazeera and reported by Re- Prayer times Heather Nauert expressed US admin- Sheikh Mohamed had stressed that “At this point we are left with one uters. “We (still) import everything we Fajr....3.14 Zuhr....11.36 Asr....2.58 istration’s surprise over the fact that the dispute must be solved through simple question: Were the actions re- need for our industries, maybe except Maghrib.....6.30 Isha.....8.00 GCC member states which enforced dialogue. ally about their concerns regarding Qa- some logistical needs, and UAE’s port Saad Sherida al-Kaabi the siege on Qatar are yet to make pub- Signalling Washington’s mounting tar’s alleged support for terrorism? of Jebel Ali will be the biggest loser (in Fasting times lic their alleged charges against Qatar. frustration at Riyadh’s role in the crisis, “Or were they about the long-sim- the dispute), not us.” land. But after the boycott was an- Iftar today ...... 6.30pm Urging both sides to resolve the dan- Nauert called into question whether mering grievances between and among Shipping lines normally transship nounced, Qatar secured deals with Imsak tomorrow...... 3.05am gerous dispute, the US offi cial said: Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism is the GCC countries?” she asked. cargoes from Jebel Ali to Qatar, which suppliers to ship directly to it instead of “Doubt is raised about the actions its true cause. To Page 24 relies heavily on imports by sea and via Jebel Ali. To Page 24 Neighbours hacked QNA website: Attorney General

By Ayman Adly statements attributed to His Highness “Though investigations are ongoing which do not apply to this list.” Staff Reporter the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- and evidences collected so far are con- HE Dr al-Marri said that some of the Thani and HE the Minister of Foreign fi rmed, we want to reach the ultimate persons in this list have no relations Aff airs were published. confi rmation. These are complicated to Qatar and at one point they were alicious software, deployed trans-regional cases that cannot be respected and hailed by the media in through iPhones with IP ad- ‘We’ and all the inhabitants resolved without looking for the ben- the countries which have enforced the Mdress originating in neigh- of the country - Qataris and efi ciary from the crime. We have evi- blockade. bouring countries that have blockaded expatriates - from of all walks dences that point to certain countries Asked about the accusation of Qatar Qatar, is behind the hacking of Qatar and nationalities, have shown who have been contacted to see if they sending funds to Tunisia in 2011, he said News Agency (QNA) and related so- their solidarity and love for would respond to the request for co- Tunisia has always been a free coun- cial media accounts, HE the Attorney the country and His Highness operation. We are still waiting for the try and never allow anybody to dictate General Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri an- the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin response.” its decisions. “What happened is that nounced yesterday. Hamad al-Thani, stressing their HE the Attorney General reiterated Tunisia asked Qatar for fi nancial help “The investigation and evidence col- steadfast stand against the the transparency of the investigation to build refugee camps for the Libyans lection on the case have been conducted diffi culty and affi rmed that all results and up- who fl ed the turmoil in the country at by the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) In- dates will be announced to media as that time. Whatever Qatar has done is formation Systems Department, which “The fabricated statements were de- soon as they show up. nothing but good,” he stressed. comes under the cyber crimes division, nied and described as false and untrue Asked about the list of “wanted per- “What is good and beautiful about in co-operation with global entities by the highest levels in the country sons involved in terrorism,” as declared the current crisis is that ‘I’ have be- from the UK and the FBI of the US, who through the Government Communica- by the countries that have enforced the come ‘We’ and all the inhabitants of off ered great support to the MoI, under tion Offi ce and HE the Minister of For- blockade on Qatar, he pointed out that the country - Qataris and expatriates the supervision of the Public Prosecu- eign Aff airs,” the top offi cial stressed. such things should be governed by laws - from of all walks and nationalities, tion,” he told a press conference. “In such cases, the normal procedure and UN Security Council regulations, have shown their solidarity and love for HE Dr al-Marri recalled that the is to contact the countries where the rather than mood swings. the country and His Highness the Emir hacking took place on the main website crime originated and get information “Such lists should be based on le- Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, of QNA and some related social media about the hackers, but in such conditions gal texts about the targeted act, and stressing their steadfast stand against accounts, in particular that of HE the they would not give information and the include the specifi ed crime with the the diffi culty,” HE Dr al-Marri con- HE the Attorney General Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri addressing the media yesterday in Minister of Foreign Aff airs, and false case is still open,” he pointed out. set penalty and the related evidences, cluded. Doha. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 QATAR

Qatar, France Minister meets special envoy of Greek FM discuss military Qatar Summer co-operation HE the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces Major General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen al-Ghanem yesterday received a phone call from the Chief of the Festival set to Defence Staff of the French Army General Pierre de Villiers. Talks dealt with bilateral relations and ways of enhancing military co-operation between the two countries, in addition to the latest begin tomorrow regional developments. Real estate articipating retailers are all Lego, skill games, virtual real- set to kick off their special ity and arcade games, a paintball transaction Ppromotions for the Qatar shooting range and live enter- Summer Festival (QSF), which tainment shows. The total value of trading in real will begin tomorrow, Qatar The City will also have a food HE the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi met the Special Envoy of the estate sales contracts registered Tourism Authority has said. court and pop-up shops. It will Greek Foreign Minister for the Gulf Co-operation Council, ambassador Dr Theodoros Theodorou, in with the Real Estate Registration The more than two-month be open daily from 2pm to 11pm Doha yesterday. They discussed bilateral relations and ways of supporting and developing them in Department at the Ministry nation-wide festival will see and an individual entry ticket addition to matters of common concern. of Justice from June 11 to 15 retailers and malls in Qatar of- costs QR15. Game prices range amounted to QR 197,950,181. fering 50% discounts until Sep- from QR5 to QR50. tember 5. The Festival will see 77 hotels “QSF off ers Qatar’s visitors and hotel apartments in Qatar the ultimate summer package, off ering a free night stay when from special travel and hospital- Mashal Shahbik two nights (at hotels) or fi ve ity off ers to exciting and varied nights (at hotel apartments) are retail and entertainment op- of the participating outlets in booked. Special entertainment shows tions for all members of the fam- these malls, shoppers can enter Hotel establishments are pro- ily to enjoy,” QTA’s festivals and the mega raffl e draw to be held viding a range of other off ers, in- events director Mashal Shahbik on the fi nal day of QSF and have cluding free breakfasts and pool said in a statement. a chance to win one of the 10 access. She added that the summer cash prizes or a super luxury car. In addition, 20 hotels are pro- to take centre stage at QSF festivities, which extend from The ‘Entertainment City’ at viding spa off ers, such as 50% Eid al-Fitr to Eid al-Adha, form the Doha Exhibition and Con- discounts on gym memberships a key part of their eff orts to ener- vention Centre (DECC), known in July and August, and a 50% n array of special enter- Hop dance shows, magic shows throughout Eid. Haroon and features an opening gise the tourism sector through as QSF’s centerpiece and family discount on breakfast buff ets. tainment shows will take by Mysterious Ash and acro- At The Mall, families will fi nd act by Saad Khan from Stand-Up diversifying Qatar’s events cal- favourite, will open its doors to In addition, Qatar Airways Acentre stage at partici- balance shows between 5:50pm entertainment with the roam- Comedy Qatar. endar and tourist source mar- the public on the fi rst day of Eid transit passengers can also take pating malls during the fi rst fi ve and 10:30pm. A henna artist will ing mascots and parades around Tickets sell from QR199 to kets. al-Fitr. advantage of +Qatar, a unique days of the Qatar Summer Fes- also be there from June 23-24. the mall between 6:30pm and QR999 and are available at Vir- According to Shahbik, QTA is Spread out over the expan- stopover package designed to tival (QSF) 2017, which kicks off Starting 6pm every evening, 9:30pm. gin Megastores in-mall stores as pleased that this edition’s activ- sive ground fl oor of DECC, the give visitors the opportunity to tomorrow, Qatar Tourism Au- visitors and residents can fol- For those longing for Europe- well as Megastores’ tickets web- ities are fully delivered by mem- City’s key features include the discover Doha with free luxury thority (QTA) has announced. low a roaming circus, mime with an street performances, Land- site, PlatinumList.net & QTick- bers of the private sector. world’s largest infl atable obsta- hotel stays and complimentary The free indoor shows, which human statues and have a whirl mark Mall will feature Italian ets.com For every QR200 spent at any cle course, Timba Cars, Bricklyn transit visas. are expected to enthral shop- with Tanoura dancers at Gulf musical parades and amusing Families can also head to Aqua pers and families, include Ice Mall. human statues from London Park, Aspire Park, Souq Waqif, Age. It is a 30 minute show held Those heading to Mall of Qa- every day between 5:30pm and Al Wakra Heritage Village or Lu- Doha interfaith dialogue centre condemns London attack three times daily at 3pm, 5pm tar will fi nd mall-wide enter- 9pm. These shows will only run sail Shooting Club for a variety and 8:30pm at the Doha Festival tainment in the form of kids’ from June 26 to 29. of outdoor activities throughout Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue City. activities, handicraft workshops Visitors and residents in need Eid. condemned the tragic criminal incident that took urged the countries that call for love and tolerance Mallgoers will also have the and cultural events. In the eve- of a laugh can count on the Mar- Those who wish to stay up to place on Monday in northern London in which one to protect religious centres and places of worship, chance to watch Ardha and gui- nings, the Oasis Stage will come lon Wayans Stand Up Comedy date with QSF activities, can fol- worshipper was killed and ten others were injured. and to respect and appreciate them at a time of tar performances, and Ambush to life with live stage shows. Show. low the Qatar Events Calendar’s In a statement issued yesterday, the centre said that increasing intolerance and hatred, stressing the need Man the magician at the same The fans of ‘Beauty & the The American superstar co- dedicated social media accounts whoever is responsible for the attack and regardless of for countries with Muslim minorities to take serious mall, according to QTA. Beast’ are in for a treat at La- median will perform on June 27 on Twitter and Instagram (@Qa- their objectives and ideologies, such abhorrent racist stances to protect them and tackle such despicable At Al Khor Mall, families can goona Mall. The all-time clas- at the Qatar National Conven- tarCalendar), Facebook (Face- practices constitute a blatant infringement on the values acts that take innocent lives regardless of religion or enjoy non-stop entertainment in sic will be performed on stage at tion Centre. The evening will book.com/QatarCalendar) and of tolerance, human brotherhood and coexistence. background. the form of Bollywood and Hip 5pm, 7pm and again at 9pm daily be hosted by Khalifa Saleh al- Snapchat (QatarCalendar).

Emergency and inpatient services to operate 24/7 during Eid al-Fitr

ll inpatient and Emergency Unit and the tology, Pain Management The Child and Adolescent emergency services Emergency and Inpatient and urgent referrals on June Mental Health Service will Aacross Hamad Medi- Pharmacies will remain 28 and 29. be closed from June 25 to 29 cal Corporation’s (HMC) open throughout the break. Radiotherapy will be open and will re-open on Sunday network of hospitals will OPD clinics in General throughout the holidays. July 2. continue to operate as usual, Medicine, General Surgery, All outpatient clinics All other clinics will re- 24 hours a day, throughout Orthopaedics, Obstetrics at Heart Hospital will be open on July 2. the Eid al-Fitr holidays. and Gynaecology, Burns closed from June 25 to 29 The Dental Outpatient All outpatient depart- Surgery and Physiotherapy and will re-open on July 2. Department will be closed ment (OPD) clinics will be will be open on June 28 and At Rumailah Hospital from June 25 to 29 June; closed from June 25 to June 29. Dermatology Clinics will be however, emergency ap- 27. Full outpatient services closed from June 25 to 27. pointments will be available At Hamad General Hospi- will resume on July 2. There will be morning on 28 and 29 June. tal walk-in and medication The Cuban Hospital OPD clinics from 9am to 12pm on Physical Medicine and refi ll clinics will operate on clinics and pharmacies will June 28 and 29. Rehabilitation Outpatient June 28 and 29. operate based on demand, Plastic surgery clinics will clinics are closed through- There will be no clinics at with regular services re- be closed on June 25 while out the holidays. Women’s Hospital on June suming on July 2. morning clinics will operate However, a physician on- 25 and 26. Patients will be contacted from 8am to 1pm on June 26 call service will be available. However, from June 27 to by phone and SMS to con- to 29. The Ambulatory Care 29, there will be three high- fi rm their appointments. The Wound Care Clinic Center’s Podiatry Clin- risk clinics, dependent on Obstetric patients in will be closed from 25 to ics and the GI/Endoscopy need, one high-risk ges- need of urgent care should 27 June and there will be Clinic will be closed from tational diabetes mellitus present at the Emergency morning clinics from 8am to June 25 to 29 June and will clinic, one feotomaternal Department. 1pm on June 28 and 29. re-open on July 2. unit clinic and a newborn The Emergency Depart- There will be no Geriatric There will be one morn- screening clinic. ment, including the phar- Clinics; however, the DOTS ing clinic every day at the Al Khor Hospital, OPD macy, will remain open 24/7 (direct observed therapy Communicable Disease clinics and the pharmacy and services will include the short course) will run every Center from 26 to 29 June will be closed from June 25 dispensing of urgent pre- day from 6am to 10pm. from 7.30am to 12pm. to 29 and will re-open July 2. scription refi lls. Mental Health Services An evening clinic will run The Accident and Emer- The dental service is clinics, including all evening from 3.30pm to 7.30pm. gency Department pharma- closed all week. clinics, will be closed from The Hamad Customer cy will open 24 hours a day. Emergency care will how- June 25 to 29, with exception Service Center (Nesma’ak) All urgent cases, includ- ever be provided through of an Injection Administra- will be closed from 25 to 27 ing patients who require the Emergency Department. tion Clinic which will be June and will re-open on medication refi ll services, National Center for Can- open on June 27 from 7am 28 and 29 June from 8am to should proceed directly to cer Care and Research (NC- to 12pm. 4pm. the Emergency Department. CCR), the Day Care Unit will The Older Adult Outreach Patients requiring infor- Al Wakra Hospital’s be closed on June 25 and 26 Service will operate from 25 mation can call 16060 dur- Emergency Department, and will re-open on June 27. June and the Community ing these times to inquire including the Adult See and There will be a morning Adult Outreach Service will be about or change their ap- Treat Unit, the Paediatric clinic for Oncology, Hema- on-call for emergencies only. pointments.

Strong winds to continue until weekend: Met

eather charts in- ing the daytime. around the mid-40C levels dicate that the The wind speed will de- are expected to continue Wcountry will con- crease at night with a no- over most areas. The Met tinue to be aff ected by fresh ticeable drop in humidity in Department has urged peo- to strong northwesterly general. ple to be cautious and avoid winds, locally known as Al- The northerly windy exposure to direct sunlight Bawarih, until this weekend conditions are expected to as well as to follow latest due to the “extension of the result in an increase in the updates through its offi cial Indian Monsoon Low” over wave height (4-8ft) and social media accounts. the region, the Qatar Met low visibility (below 3km at A maximum temperature department has said. times) due to blowing dust, of 43C is expected today in The wind speed is ex- especially in open areas, Doha, Mesaieed and Wakrah. pected to range between 15 according to the weather Yesterday, the maximum knots and 25 knots, going up report. In addition, high was 45C in Doha, Al Rayyan, to 30-35 knots at times dur- temperatures fl uctuating Mesaieed and Turayna. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 3 QATAR

A view of the Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha. HIA sees robust growth in passenger numbers

amad International Airport (HIA), Qatar’s gateway to the Hworld, has announced strong year-on-year growth in passenger numbers and cargo handling from Jan- uary to June, making it its busiest six month period yet. The ‘fi ve star’ airport served 19mn passengers from January to June 2017, 8% more than those served in the pre- vious year. This includes departing, arriving and transfer passengers travel- ling through the airport. With 980,000 tonnes of cargo han- dled by the airport from January to June 2017, HIA’s cargo operations grew an impressive 19% compared to the same period in the previous year. HIA Chief Operating Offi cer Badr Mohamed al-Meer said: “Our growing passenger fi gures and cargo operations are a testament to our resilient and sus- tainable airport operations. State-of-the-art passenger terminal at HIA. “Our promise of operational excel- lence is at the core of our business. HIA is HIA has met a number of signifi - Best Airport in the World’ by the 2017 a robust organisation backed by a com- cant milestones in 2017 including be- Skytrax World Airport Awards, moving mitted and hardworking team. Together, ing classifi ed as a ‘5 Star Airport’ by up four places from 2016. we have promptly and successfully pri- Skytrax, making it one among only fi ve HIA has also won the ‘Best Airport in oritised our passengers by off ering them other airports in the world to achieve the Middle East’ title for three years in a our Five Star services and a hassle-free this status. row and ‘Best Staff Service in the Mid- travel experience,” al-Meer added. Earlier this year, it was ranked ‘Sixth dle East’ for two years in a row. Gulf Times 4 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 QATAR Cancer education ‘key public health priority’

ancer education and awareness oping cancer can be reduced by follow- strategy has set a number of objectives, is one of 16 priority areas in the ing healthy lifestyle habits that include including myth refutation, integrated Csoon to be launched Qatar Pub- limiting UV ray exposure from the sun, health sector awareness activities, and lic Health Strategy 2017-2022, with consuming a healthy diet, exercising the continuous development of can- the main objective being enforcing the regularly, and not smoking. cer screening programmes off ered by message that “early detection can save “60% of cancers can be prevented the Primary Health Care Corporation lives”. by early detection, avoiding risk fac- (PHCC). Cancer is the third leading cause of tors or changing lifestyles,” said Sheikh In an attempt to make more in- death in Qatar, according to the World Dr Mohamed Hamad al-Thani, di- formed decisions and better defi ne Health Organisation Non-communi- rector, Public Health at the Ministry priorities, the MoPH has published an cable Diseases Country Profi les 2014 of Public Health (MoPH), during his online health survey, where the public report. speech at launch event for the National can provide information on what their Early detection of cancer is recog- Cancer Framework 2017-2022 earlier perceptions and priorities are when it nised to increase the chance of suc- this month. He added that “more than comes to public health. Feedback will cessful treatment. For example, when 60% of diagnosed cancer cases can be be analysed to ensure that the fi nal bowel cancer cases are diagnosed at cured”. strategy is robust and fi t for purpose. the earliest stage, more than 9 out of In line with its pledge to improve The survey and the current Public 10 people survive for at least 10 years. the health and well-being of the Qatar Health Strategy can be found at http:// However, if diagnosed at a late stage, population, the Public Health Strategy phs.moph.gov.qa. survival is below 5%. recognises the need to educate peo- The National Cancer Framework Prevention is also key when it comes ple more eff ectively about the facts 2017-2022 can be found at www. to cancer awareness. The risk of devel- on cancer. In order to achieve this, the moph.gov.qa/publications.

A view of the Iftar gathering. 500 ABA staff attend annual Iftar party

ore than 500 employees of Karam, as well as CEOs and general sion. “ABA Beverages is like one family the Ali Bin Ali (ABA) Group’s managers from other divisions. and the annual Iftar gathering is the MBeverages Division attended Karam awarded excellence and ap- perfect occasion for all of us to bond. the annual Iftar party recently, mark- preciation certifi cates and gifts to 33 Let us work together and keep the ing the continuation of a tradition employees for their outstanding per- Ali Bin Ali Group fl ag fl ying high,” he and highlighted the spirit of the holy formance in the company through urged. month of Ramadan. their stint with PepsiCo. A lucky draw was also conducted for Present at the Iftar gathering was He thanked the employees for their all the attendees at the gathering, add- ABA Beverages general manager Marc contribution to the success of the divi- ing a fun element to the evening.

Gulf Times 6 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 QATAR/RAMADAN Commercial Bank shares The concern of Ramadan spirit with elderly

ommercial Bank has organised deed’s acceptance an Iftar in honour of the elderly Cresidents of the Empowerment eedless to say, we owe our abil- and Elderly Care Centre (Ihsan) as part ity to perform righteous deeds of a series of corporate social responsi- Nto the Favour of Allah, The Most bility (CSR) initiatives during Ramadan Exalted. Had Allah left us alone to de- focusing on the Qatari community. pend on ourselves, we would have been A team from Commercial Bank vis- inevitably doomed, because Satan is ited the elderly at Ihsan and shared an always attacking us hoping to misguide Iftar buff et with them in an atmosphere us. Allah Says (what means): of solidarity and happiness that comes “(Satan) said (to Allah Almighty), do with the breaking of the fast. You see this one (Aadam) whom You Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph honoured above me, If You delay me un- Abraham said: “The month of Ram- til the Day of Resurrection, I will surely adan is one of solidarity, philanthropy, destroy his descendants, except for a and refl ection, and we are committed few.” [Qur’an 17: 62] to supporting a wide cross-section of “(Satan) said, because You have put the Qatari community as part of our me in error, I will surely sit in wait for inclusive CSR programme during the them, on Your straight path. Then I will holy month and throughout the year. Elderly residents at Ihsan with the Commercial Bank team. come to them from before them, and “This Iftar is a gesture of apprecia- from behind them, and on their right tion and respect for the older genera- Seeking to provide a safe, stable life hospital, and the nursing home and en- and on their left and You will not fi nd tion who have made an enormous con- for Qatar’s elderly citizens by off ering deavours to establish the necessary fa- most of them grateful.” [Qur’an 7: 16-17] tribution to Qatar and to honour Qatari them healthcare, social, and psycho- cilities and legislations to support the But Allah protected His sincere slaves, traditions during Ramadan.” logical services, Ihsan provides home- elderly. as He Says (what means): “Indeed, My Jaber Mohamed al-Marri, director based care and raises public awareness, As part of a series of community- slaves - no authority will you have over of Public Relations and Media at Ihsan, especially amongst families, about em- focused CSR initiatives the bank or- them…” [Qur’an 15: 42] lauded Commercial Bank’s visit and bracing the elderly, off ering them guid- ganised during Ramadan, the Iftar was Allah is The One Who facilitated the Iftar with the elderly community. ance to adopt the best methods in this held to encourage solidarity in Qatari means to do good and helped us utilise He noted that the gesture brought regard. society by sharing happiness with the them. He Says (what means): “As for he joy and happiness to Ihsan’s mothers Ihsan strives to develop an integrated elderly during the special moments who gives (in charity) and fears Allah, and fathers, and deeply aff ected them. care system that includes the home, the that come with the breaking of the fast. and believes in the best (reward), We will ease him toward Virtue. But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need, and denies the best (re- ward), We will ease him toward Misery.” [Qur’an 92: 5-10] Aamal launches ‘Dial-a-Tyre’ service If one utilises all means of good, seek- ing the help from Allah, trusting Him and knowing that there is no refuge ex- amal Trading and Distribution, a cept in Him, only then can he hope for subsidiary of Aamal Company and good to result. Athe sole distributor of Bridgestone We must beware of committing is more plentiful [in number or wealth] be accepted from them, which refl ects tyres in Qatar, has launched a new mo- things which might result in wasting than another community. Allah only strength in their faith and their knowl- bile service – ‘Dial-a-Tyre’ – through its our deeds, like showing off , arrogance tries you thereby. And He will surely edge regarding their Lord. They feared ‘First Stop’ van. and pride. We have to always remember make clear to you on the Day of Res- they would fall into hypocrisy. One of The service is being brought to the Qa- that if it was not for the help of Allah, we urrection that over which you used to them said: “Only a believer would fear tari market in co-operation with Bridge- would never have acted nor been guided diff er.”[Qur’an 16: 92] hypocrisy on himself, and only a hypo- stone, and will cover areas outside of Doha to the Straight Path. Allah Says (what A believer’s concern is to protect his crite feels secured”. such as Wakrah, Dukhan, Al Khor, Lusail means): “And if it was not for the favour deeds just as our Salaf (righteous pred- As we are approaching the end of Ra- and other cities, according to a statement. of Allah upon you and His mercy, you ecessors) used to be, they were more madan, we have to be so be grateful that Through this service, Bridgestone cus- would have followed Satan except for a concerned whether their deeds were ac- Allah, The Most Exalted, made us live tomers “will be served at their doorsteps few.” [Qur’an 4: 83]. cepted or not than the deed itself. Some long enough to reach it, enabled us to and can enjoy the luxury” of having their The more a believer is sincere in of them said: “Be more concerned about fast it, pray the night prayers and recite A ‘First Stop’ staff er prepares a tyre for installation. tyres changed and wheels balanced, in deeds, the better and more righteous the deed’s acceptance than performing the Qur’an during it. We also need to be addition to getting other they are. A believer is never arrogant, the deed itself’. grateful that we went through Ramadan car services, with just a and he fears that something might occur Allah Says (what means): “Indeed, with good health, peace and security. phone call, the statement to put his deed to waste and make it use- they who are apprehensive from fear of We have to ask our Lord that we end Ra- adds. less. Allah Says (what means): “O you their Lord. And they who believe in the madan in a good situation, and that He On dialling the toll-free who have believed, obey Allah and obey signs of their Lord. And they who do accept our deeds, because this is the ob- number 800-4656, car the Messenger and do not invalidate not associate anything with their Lord. jective and this is what we hope for. experts with the fully- your deeds.” [Qur’an 47: 33] He, The And they who give what they give while Article source: http://www.is- equipped van ‘First Stop’ Most Exalted, also Says (what means): their hearts are fearful because they will lamweb.net/emainpage/ will arrive at a customer’s “And do not be like she who untwisted be returning to their Lord.” [Qur’an 23: location and service the her spun thread after it was strong [by] 57-60]. car. taking your oaths as [means of] deceit They (the Salaf) performed the right- Syed Rashid Hassan, between you because one community eous deeds and feared that it might not general manager of Aamal Trading and Distribution, said: “Through the ‘Dial- a-Tyre’ service, we are able to fulfi l the growing mar- ket demand for quality and personalised services.”

Kulud Pharmacy joins Ooredoo’s Nojoom loyalty programme

oredoo announced yesterday that its Omulti award-win- ning loyalty programme, Nojoom, has added its fi rst ever pharmacy, Kulud Pharmacy, to its earn and redeem partner list. Kulud is the largest pharmacy chain in Qatar and a leading provider of medical and non-medical products and services at aff ordable prices. There are currently 45 Kulud Pharmacy branches around Qatar, and 14 of these are open 24/7. Branch locations in- clude Al Waab, The Gate Mall, Hamad International Airport, The Pearl, Barwa City, Al Khor, among oth- ers. With the new partner- ship, members will be able to earn and redeem No- joom points at Kulud Phar- macy shops across Qatar. Members will be able to redeem vouchers for Kulud Pharmacy starting from 2,000 for a QR50 voucher and 50,000 for a QR2,000 voucher. Members will earn one Nojoom point for every QR4 spent at Kulud Phar- macy while making cash and card purchases. Every Ooredoo custom- er with a Qatar ID can enrol into Nojoom, and redemp- tions can be made through Nojoom’s redemption channels by logging into their account at www. ooredoo.qa/nojoom or by downloading the Ooredoo app.

Gulf Times 8 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 QATAR Vodafone raises funds Buses on some routes rescheduled

nder the instructions of the Minis- routes, which cover ministries, offi ces, all try of Transport and Communica- major hotels and some of the embassies in for three charities Utions, additional routes, changes in West Bay area. existing routes, reduced waiting time with Routes nos. 302 and 303 operating in he third edition of Voda- increased frequency have been introduced Abu Hamour and Ain Khalid respec- fone’s fundraising challenge in the public bus networks of Mowasalat- tively have been terminated but routes T#GivingChallenge has raised Karwa. nos. 20, 21 and 22 cover part of those a total of QR364,810 as a result of The move is expected to signifi cantly areas where 302 and 303 services were 36,481 votes. The challenge, which enhance the bus networks with more ac- operating. was launched on the fi rst day of cess, reliability with the objective to in- In addition, during Ramadan the opera- Ramadan, saw three Qatari social crease ridership and encourage public bus tions of buses on routes nos. 11, 12, 21,31, media personalities use their social usage, the company said in a statement 33, 34, 43, 55, 56 and 76 are extended up to media channels to raise funds for yesterday. 12 midnight. Also, routes nos. 20, 31, 41, their chosen charity. New routes have been introduced 119, 301 and 304 are extended until 11pm. Aqeel al-Janahi, Ahmed Ab- and few of the key routes modifi ed in In order to meet with the growing de- dullaa, and Ahmed Khalil used the recent times, especially related to mand and ease commutation during Eid their social media channels to operations in the West Bay area and al-Fitr holidays, the bus services will op- encourage their followers to vote HIA in suiting arriving passengers to erate up to 1am. for their chosen charities via Vo- choose their own mode of transporta- Two new ticket vending machines have dafone’s website; for each vote, tion and encourage the public to use been installed, one each at DBS and KBS Vodafone donated QR10 to each public bus. for the convenience of bus riding custom- charity. Many of the HIA routes are now modi- ers to access Karwasmartcard purchase/ The funds raised were given to fi ed. The Route No.747 from HIA to Doha top up any time. Qatar Charity (QC), chosen by Bus Station (DBS) has been modifi ed to Mowasalat is working very closely with Ahmed Abdullaa (QR153,590); cover major hotels around Doha Bus Sta- Ministry of Transport and Communica- Afi f, chosen by Aqeel al-Janahi tion (DBS), the Corniche and Salata area. tions to broaden the public bus network (QR140,200); and RAF, chosen by Route No. 737 from HIA to Karwa Bus in full consideration of infra structure Ahmed Khalil (QR71,020). Station (KBS) in Abu Hamour now covers changes and rail network planned to ex- Dana Haidan, head, corporate Barwa City, Religious Complex and the ecute the National Transport Master responsibility at Vodafone, said, Mesaimeer Health Centre. Also, route No. plan and give various choices of mode of “We are so proud of the eff orts that 777 from HIA to City Center Doha is now transport to the country’s residents and Aqeel al-Janahi, Ahmed Abdul- extended to The Pearl covering the Lagoo- visitors. laa, and Ahmed Khalil dedicated Social media personalities Aqeel al-Janahi, Ahmed Abdullaa, and Ahmed Khalil. na Mall, and a new route (no. 727) intro- The company is also preparing to pro- to raising funds for their chosen duced from HIA to Al Khor via Al Shamal vide smart transportation solutions for charities. funds for Qatar Charity, said, “I’d director, Local Development at Qa- thank all the voters who contrib- Road. transiting in Qatar, in compliance with “The funds raised will now sup- like to thank Vodafone for giving tar Charity, said, “We are delighted uted to this charitable activity and Routes nos. 74 and 75 (West Bay route Smart city plans and deliverables. port the honourable work that the me the opportunity to do charity with Qatar Charity’s representative its support of humanitarian and shuttle services) are modifi ed to improve On the occasion of Ramadan, Mow- charities do to help thousands of in this innovative way. I am proud winning this challenge. I would like development projects.” passenger connectivity to key locations, asalat has also mobilised its staff and underprivileged people, including that the funds raised will make the thank Vodafone for giving us the op- Launched in 2015 during Ram- reduce travel and waiting time, based on resources to reach sale/top up of Kar- the provision of cataract surgery wishes of many orphans come true portunity to be part of the Giving adan as a new and innovative way the performance analysis and feedback wasmartcard at some of key work- in the Niger and orphans in the through Qatar Charity’s ‘Omnyaati’ Challenge, as these donations will to do charity, Vodafone’s #Giv- from the public. ers’ accommodations in Industrial Middle East.” programme.” help realise the wishes of orphans ingChallenge has raised a total of Route no. 74 operating in West Bay Area and Al Khor Mall giving away Abdullaa, who raised the most Ali Ateeq al-Abdullah, executive around the world. Additionally, I QR1,823,310 to date. as single route will now operate on two attractive gifts. Ashghal awards contracts for citizens’ sub-division projects

By Ramesh Mathew Ahmed al-Muhannadi said the provided for 10,400 plots of land The same company also re- Staff Reporter signing of contracts demonstrat- spread over 13 projects across the ceived a contract worth QR243mn ed the Authority’s commitment country over the next fi ve years. for Rawdat Egdaim/Izghawa to deliver excellent infrastructure Infrastructure works for 1,829 project, which covers 592 plots. he Public Works Author- for its citizens’ sub-divisions, plots have been completed. More than 19.8km of local road ity - Ashghal yester- which included residential, Kahramaa president Issa bin networks and 19.5km sewage Tday awarded contracts commercial, educational, and Hilal al-Kuwari said the utility is networks are to be built there. Saad bin Ahmed al-Muhannadi and Issa bin Hilal al-Kuwari along with other top off icials yesterday. worth QR815mn for build- recreational facilities. working in tandem with the au- A joint venture of Boom Con- PICTURE: Jayaram ing infrastructure facilities in He said that all projects are be- thorities to provide regular water struction Co and Lotus Contracting three citizens’ sub-divisions ing implemented in co-ordina- and electricity supply to the areas Co was awarded works amounting Parts of Orbital Highway, Wakrah bypass to open soon development projects. tion with Kahramaa and Ministry covered under the citizens’ sub- to QR306mn for building infra- The projects, spread over ap- of Municipality and Environment division development projects. structure in the North of Al Nas- Ashghal president Saad bin and Hamad Port, to Ras Laff an from Hamad Port. The port has proximately 1,672 plots of land, and are in line with the directives Yesterday, a contract worth siriya project. The work covers 461 Ahmed al-Muhannadi yesterday Industrial City, through a nearly become more active in recent are in Al Froosh/Al Kharaitiyat of Minister of Municipality and QR265mn was awarded to Bin plots and 25km local roads and said a partial opening of a section 200km long road, bypassing the weeks after the economic and (package 1), Rawdat Edgaim/ Environment HE Mohamed bin Omran Trading & Contract- 27km of sewage networks. on Orbital Highway will take Doha city. The project is expected land blockade on the country. Ighawa (package 1) and North of Abdullah al-Rumaihi. ing Co for building infrastruc- Ashghal assistant president place at least a month before its to be ready by the end of next With the partial opening of the Al Nassiriya (package 2). Al-Muhannadi also said Ash- ture facilities in Al Froosh/Al Abdulla Hamad al-Attiyah, infra- scheduled launch next month. year. It has six lanes on either side. nearly 17km Wakrah bypass, Ashghal announced that work ghal is committed to adhering to Kharaitiyat project (package 1). structure aff airs director Mohamed The Wakrah bypass will also be The partial opening of a major between Barwa Village and near on the projects will start next the completion schedule of the Approximately 18km of local Masoud al-Marri and Roads Project partially opened later this month, section of the highway on Umm Al Houl power station month and will be completed by projects. roads and 33km of sewage net- Department manager Saoud Ali al- he added. the southern side is expected on Mesaieed highway, traff ic the second quarter of 2019. As per the ongoing plans, in- works will be built under this Tamimi were also present at the The QR18bn plus project aims to to improve considerably the through Wakrah town is expected Ashghal president Saad bin frastructure facilities will be project, covering 619 plots. announcement conference. connect Mesaieed Industrial Area container and truck movement to be eased in the coming days. Work in Mashaf and Wukair now complete

nfrastructural develop- with a total of 70km, which ment works on more includes 92 main and lo- Ithan 500 plots of land in cal streets. The place has Al Mashaf West and Al Wu- 13 signalised intersections, kair North citizens’ sub- of which three are major divisions projects are now interchanges. complete and expected to More than 76% of the be delivered by the end roads and other infrastruc- of this year, according to tural development works in Ashghal. Al Wukair North are now As part of the two complete. The project serves projects, which together 643 plots and has 23km are implemented at a cost of local roads and eight of over QR1.2bn, works of a signalised intersections total of 1,829 plots need to among others. be completed. As part of the citi- Ashghal has also said zens sub-division pro- 91% of the road and grammes, covering 13 infrastructure devel- projects, infrastruc- opment projects in Al tural developmental Mashaf (package 1), works on about 10,400 are now complete. The plots need to be com- project consists of 1,886 pleted. It is hoped that plots, and aims to turn Al infrastructural de- Mashaf West area into a velopment works to sustainable residential 1,303, 2,511, 2,487 and zone. 2,270 plots of land will The Al Mashaf project be completed in 2018, includes the construction 2019, 2020 and 2021, of a local roads network respectively. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 9 REGION/ARAB WORLD

HEALTH Yemen cholera death toll passes 1,100 Cholera has killed 1,170 people in war-ravaged Yemen and the number of Iran protests against Tillerson ‘transition’ remarks suspected cases is now at nearly 2,000 a day, the World Health Organi- sation said yesterday. And the devastation wrought by the conflict there made coping with the outbreak that much more diff icult, WHO spokes- AFP ing offi ce in January but Tillerson’s testi- nian media. Alongside Monday’s sum- side of Iran that would lead to a peace- man Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva. Tehran mony to a Congressional committee last moning of the Swiss envoy, Iran also ful transition of that government,” the “The number of suspected cholera cases is rising,” said Jasarevic. “We are week appeared to be the fi rst expression sent a protest letter to UN chief An- US top diplomat said. talking close to 2,000 suspected cases per day,” he warned, which meant of support for a change of government. tonio Guterres, the ISNA news agency “Those elements are there certainly, that Yemen was now suff ering the world’s largest cholera outbreak. ran has called in the Swiss charge “The Swiss charge d’affaires was reported. as we know,” he added, without elabo- Since WHO began collecting data on the outbreak on April 27, it has d’aff aires, who looks after US inter- summoned to the foreign ministry to be In last Wednesday’s testimony to rating on the groups he was referring registered more than 170,000 suspected cholera cases across 20 of Iests, to protest against comments by a handed a strong protest from the Is- the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to. In his testimony, Tillerson also Yemen’s 21 governorates, Jasarevic said. WHO has warned that a quarter Secretary of State Rex Tillerson backing lamic Republic of Iran against the com- Tillerson accused Iran of seeking “he- raised the possibility of imposing sanc- of a million people could fall sick with the disease cholera by the end of “peaceful transition” in the country. ments by the US secretary of state.... gemony” in the Middle East. tions on the whole of the Islamic Rev- the year there. Already, two-thirds of the population are on the brink of The administration of President Don- which were contrary to international “Our policy towards Iran is to push olutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s main famine there. Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread ald Trump has taken an increasingly law and the UN charter,” ministry back on this hegemony...and to work military force and a major player in the through contaminated food or water. hawkish position towards Iran since tak- spokesman Bahram Ghassemi told Ira- toward support of those elements in- country’s economy.

Polio paralyses 17 children: WHO A polio outbreak in war- access to basic goods and ravaged Syria has paralysed at services for some of the least 17 children since March, population. the World Health Organisation WHO did not specify whether US-led coalition downs said yesterday, describing the the Deir Ezzor cases were in situation as “very serious”. areas under IS control. Fifteen more cases have thus One case of the crippling and been confirmed since WHO potentially fatal viral disease first announced, less than that mainly aff ects children two weeks ago, that Syria had under the age of five has also been hit by its first outbreak surfaced in IS stronghold drone in southern Syria of the crippling disease since Raqqa. But Jasarevic said it 2014. “We are very much wor- remained unclear if polio was AFP Strike Eagle jet destroyed an city of Raqqa. On Sunday, a US ried, because if there is one actually circulating in Raqqa, Beirut armed Shahed-129 drone in the fi ghter jet downed a Syrian gov- case of polio with a kid that or if the paralysed child had early hours of the morning as it ernment warplane for the fi rst is paralysed, it is already an caught the virus elsewhere. neared the Al Tanaf base along time in the country’s confl ict outbreak,” WHO spokesman Unlike the last polio outbreak US warplane shot down Syria’s eastern border. “It dis- south of Raqqa, sparking an an- Tarim Jasarevic told reporters in Syria, which aff ected 36 chil- a drone operated by pro- played hostile intent and ad- gry reaction from regime ally in Geneva. He pointed out dren, the current outbreak does Aregime forces in southern vanced on Coalition forces,” the Russia. that for every polio-caused not involve the so-called “wild” Syria early yesterday, offi cials statement said. Moscow said it was suspend- paralysis, there are on average version of the virus. said, in the latest incident in ris- A US military offi cial said ing an incident hotline set up nearly 200 children who have Instead, it originated from a ing tensions between the two the drone was “on a run toward two years ago and warned that the virus but no symptoms. specific type of polio vaccine, sides. our folks to drop a munition on it would consider international “The virus is circulating. It is which contains small amounts It comes days after a US war- them” and was shot down in aircraft operating in central Syr- very serious.” The new cases of weakened but live virus. plane shot down a Syrian gov- self-defence. ia “aerial targets.” all surfaced between March 3 Oral polio vaccine (OPV) ernment fi ghter jet in the north Coalition forces are using the Washington said it would and May 23, but were only just replicates in the gut and can of the country, prompting a furi- Al Tanaf base by Syria’s borders “work diplomatically and mili- confirmed, since it can take up be passed to others through ous reaction from Russia. with Jordan and Iraq to train tarily...to re-establish decon- to two months to determine faecal-contaminated water — Moscow has now suspended anti-militant Syrian fi ghters and fl iction” but Moscow continued with certainty that a case of meaning it won’t hurt the child an incident hotline intended to stage attacks against IS. to take a hard line yesterday even acute flaccid paralysis stems who has been vaccinated, but prevent confrontations in Syria’s But their presence there has before the latest incident. from polio, he said. could infect their neighbours crowded air space, and warned it led to a series of confronta- “It is absolutely illegal,” Rus- “It is expected that we will in places where hygiene and could consider US-led coalition tions with pro-regime forces, sia’s Deputy Foreign Minister have more confirmations,” immunisation levels are low. planes “targets”. including on June 8 when a US Mikhail Bogdanov said yester- Jasarevic warned. WHO plans to bring in more of The rising tensions prompted plane also downed a drone after day of the presence of American All but one of the cases were the vaccine to get immunisa- Australia to announce it was it dropped munitions near Al forces in Syria. registered in the Mayadeen tions levels high enough to en- suspending its participation in Tanaf. Members of Roj Mine Control Organisation destroy explosive devices “There has been neither a Se- district of the oil-rich Deir sure they can halt the outbreak, air missions over Syria as part of That incident followed two planted by Islamic State militants near Ain Issa village north of Raqqa. curity Council decision, nor a Ezzor province, most of which Jasarevic said, adding that the the US-led coalition fi ghting the others involving US fi re against request from the offi cial author- is controlled by the Islamic aim is to vaccinate more than Islamic State group. pro-regime forces on the ground Tensions have also fl ared be- coalition is supporting an alli- ities of the Syrian Arab Republic State group and where a siege 400,000 children under five in In yesterday’s incident, the as they came close to the garri- tween US forces and the Syrian ance of Kurdish and Arab fi ght- as a sovereign state,” Russia’s In- of the capital has restricted Deir Ezzor. US-led coalition said an F-15E son. regime further north, where the ers battling to oust IS from the terfax news reported. Israel fl outing UN Security Council settlement demand

two-state solution,” he said. Israel for Reuters Troops shoot dead United Nations decades has pursued a policy of con- structing Jewish settlements on terri- Palestinian in West Bank tory captured by Israel in the 1967 war Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian srael is fl outing a United Nations with its Arab neighbours. who tried to stab them in the occupied Security Council demand to halt The Palestinians want an inde- West Bank yesterday, the Israeli military Isettlement building on occupied pendent state in the West Bank, Gaza said, and the Palestinian health ministry Palestinian land, while both parties and East Jerusalem. confirmed a Palestinian had been killed. are ignoring a call to stop provocation, The December resolution calls on The Israeli military said the soldiers had incitement and infl ammatory rheto- both parties to refrain from acts of been under immediate threat from the ric, a senior UN envoy said yesterday. provocation, incitement and infl am- Palestinian when they opened fire on UN Middle East envoy Nickolay matory rhetoric, and to condemn all him. A wave of Palestinian street attacks Mladenov made the assessment in acts of terrorism. that began in October 2015 has slowed his second quarterly report to the “Regrettably, such calls continued in recent months but not stopped. 15-member council on the implemen- to go unanswered,” Mladenov said. At least 253 Palestinians and one Jorda- tation of a Dec 23 resolution adopted The United States traditionally nian citizen have been killed since the with 14 votes in favour and a US ab- shields Israel, Washington’s long- violence began. Israel says at least 171 stention. Then US President-elect time ally that receives more than $3bn of those killed were carrying out attacks Donald Trump and Israel had urged in annual US military aid, from coun- while others died during clashes and Washington to wield its veto. cil action. The fi ve council veto powers protests. Palestinian Authority, which “The policy of continued illegal set- are the United States, Russia, France, exercises limited self-rule in the West tlement construction in the occupied Britain and China. Bank, says desperation over Israeli oc- Palestinian territory contravenes res- The December resolution, put for- cupation of land sought by Palestinians olution 2334,” Mladenov said. ward by New Zealand, Malaysia, Ven- for a state is the cause. US-brokered “The large number of settlement- ezuela and Senegal a day after Egypt peace talks between the sides broke related activities documented during withdrew it under pressure from Israel down in 2014. Palestinians want to this period undermine the chances and Trump, was the fi rst adopted by establish an independent state in the for the establishment of a viable, con- Israel and the Palestinians in nearly West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. tinuous Palestinian state as part of a eight years.

Iraq’s army encircles IS in Mosul’s Old City

Reuters Erbil

raq’s army said it encircled Islamic State’s stronghold in the Old City of Mosul yesterday after taking over an area Ito the north of the densely populated historic district. The army’s 9th armoured division seized Al Shifaa dis- trict, which includes the city’s main hospitals, alongside the western bank of the Tigris river, a military statement said. The fall of Shifaa means the Old City in the eastern half of Mosul is now surrounded by US-backed government forces, deployed north, west, south and east, across the river. The battle for the Old City is becoming the deadliest in the eight-month old US-backed off ensive to capture Mosul, Is- lamic State’s de facto capital in Iraq and the largest city the group came to control in the country. Civilians flee from the Old City of Mosul as Iraqi forces advance. Aid organisations are expressing alarm at the situation of more than 100,000 civilians, of whom half are children, struct air surveillance, making it diffi cult for the advancing trapped in its old fragile houses with little food, water and troops to hit them without a risk to civilians. medicine and no electricity. The Iraqi army estimates the number of Islamic State The International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday fi ghters at no more than 300, down from nearly 6,000 in the said sick and wounded civilians escaping through Islamic city when the battle of Mosul started on Oct 17. State lines are dying in “high numbers.” A US-led international coalition is providing air and The militants are moving stealthily in the Old City’s maze ground support. of alleyways and narrow streets, through holes dug between The fall of Mosul would, in eff ect, mark the end of the Iraqi houses, fi ghting back the advancing troops with sniper and half of the “caliphate” that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al- mortar fi re, booby traps and suicide bombers. Baghdadi declared three years ago and which once covered They have also covered many streets with cloths to ob- swathes of Iraq and Syria. Gulf Times 10 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 AFRICA

SAFE HOUSE JUSTICE ACCIDENT GRAZING GROUND UN special envoy Jolie UN court to review Rwanda At least eight drown in boat meets refugee girls genocide conviction capsize off Kenya coast

UN Refugee agency special envoy Angelina A UN tribunal has agreed to review its appeals Eight people died and at least two were Jolie yesterday marked World Refugee Day judgement against a former Rwandan minister missing after an overloaded boat capsized at a Kenyan home housing refugee girls who found guilty of genocide crimes, a case yesterday off Kenya’s Lamu Island, police fled unaccompanied or split from their parents blocked for months by the detention of one of said. The small boat, carrying 30 passengers while fleeing conflict. The Hollywood star the court’s top judges. In a statement late on and cargo, was travelling from the island to visited a safe house in Nairobi. The UNHCR Monday, the UN’s Mechanism for International the mainland when it capsized in rough seas. said almost all had experienced sexual and Criminal Tribunals said in a rare legal move it “Eight bodies have so far been retrieved. The gender-based violence and many had given would review its ruling convicting Augustin bodies include one male, four females and three birth after being raped or were pregnant. “The Ngirabatware for his role in Rwanda’s 1994 children,” the region’s deputy police commander role of sexual violence is compounded when it genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people Akello Odhiambo said. “Right now we are talking is carried out by someone in uniform who has were killed. Ngirabatware, planning minister at about two missing, but there are reports that UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie addresses taken an oath to protect,” Jolie said. “So it is a the time of the genocide, was found guilty of it could be more but the chances are slim by International Peace Support Training Centre responsibility of those who wear uniform to inciting, aiding and encouraging militiamen in the look of the boat,” said another senior police A rhino walks through the grass of the Nairobi staff members in Nairobi yesterday. take the lead now by correcting from within.” Nyamyumba to kill their Tutsi neighbours. off icer, speaking on condition of anonymity. National Park near Nairobi. Militia mutilates toddlers, burns Congo villages

Reuters She dismissed earlier reports from Geneva/Kinshasa Zeid’s team of the discovery of mass graves in the territory, saying one site had turned out to contain just a rifl e and an- he UN rights chief said yesterday other a motorcycle. a militia linked to Democratic Re- “The sad truth is that they are looking Tpublic of Congo’s government has for mass graves everywhere except where committed a string of ethnically-moti- they may actually exist,” she told the vated attacks in recent months, including council. cutting off toddlers’ limbs and stabbing Zeid said UN investigators had seen pregnant women. children as young as two whose limbs had Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called for an in- been chopped off and babies had machete ternational investigation, saying the Kin- wounds and severe burns. shasa government had not done enough to “One two-month-old baby seen by look into the atrocities. my team had been hit by two bullets four Congo’s human rights minister dis- hours after birth; the mother was also missed that statement. wounded. Zeid told the UN Human Rights Council At least two pregnant women were Somali policemen assess the scene of an attack on a government building in Mogadishu. in Geneva he had reports the Bana Mura sliced open and their foetuses mutilated,” militia was backing the government in its he added. fi ght against insurgents in the central Ka- He asked the rights council to authorise sai region, and had focused attacks on two an international investigation as progress ethnic groups, the Luba and Lulua. in Congolese investigations “has clearly “Refugees from multiple villages in been insuffi cient in view of the massive the Kamonya territory indicated that the scale and horrifi c nature of the crimes that Bana Mura have in the past two months have taken place and, sadly, continue”. shot dead, hacked or burned to death, and Security forces and the Kamuina Nsapu mutilated, hundreds of villagers, as well as militia have killed at least 3,383 people in 10 dead in Somalia destroying entire villages,” Zeid said. Kasai since October, the Catholic church Congo’s government has been fi ght- said yesterday, citing its own sources in ing insurgents in Kasai since last August, the remote territory bordering Angola. triggering fears of a wider confl ict in the The report said the army destroyed 10 large central African country, which is a villages as it sought to stamp out an insur- tinderbox of ethnic rivalry and competing rection and accused the militia of killing claims over mineral resources. hundreds of people, destroying four vil- Wars at the turn of the century killed lages and attacking church property in a minibus bombing millions and involved more than a half- campaign to drive out government troops. dozen neighbouring countries. No one was immediately available to AFP Shebaab and nine others are wound- which was the target, and where dis- security forces intervened and killed Violence has increased since December, comment from the militia or the army, Mogadishu ed,” said security ministry spokesman trict authorities and intelligence of- them. when President Joseph Kabila decided to which has dismissed previous accusations Ahmed Mohamud Mohamed. Most of fi cials were meeting at the time,” said The Shebaab group, which wants stay in power beyond the end of his two- of abuses. the dead were civilians, he said. a statement carried by pro-Shebaab to impose a Taliban-style rule on So- term mandate on the grounds that more But the report will carry considerable t least 10 people were killed “Security guards tried to stop (the website somalimemo.net. malia, has been fi ghting for the last time was needed to prepare for elections. weight in a country where about 40% of yesterday when Shebaab minibus) but it managed to get in and It was the second major attack decade to overthrow successive in- Kasai is an opposition stronghold. the population identifi es as Catholic. Amilitants drove an explosives- the vehicle blew up,” local security by the Shebaab this Ramadan, a ternationally-backed governments Congo’s Human Rights Minister Marie Fighting surged in Kasai in August when laden minibus into local government offi cial Omar Adan told AFP. time when there is often an uptick in Mogadishu. Ange Mushobekwa told the council her the army killed a chief who had been call- offi ces in the Somali capital Mogad- Another security offi cial, Abdi Ji- in extremist Islamist assaults in the It has also launched attacks in government was investigating the reports ing for central government forces to quit ishu, according to the security min- libey, said more than 18 people were country. Kenya and Uganda, both contribu- of atrocities and had nothing to hide, sug- the region, saying it should be left to local istry. injured and that some of the bodies Last Thursday, at least 18 peo- tors to a 22,000-strong African Un- gesting the accusations were politically leaders. The minibus rammed through a were so badly burnt as to be unrec- ple were killed when six militants ion force in the country. motivated. The UN Human Rights Council in Ge- security barrier outside offi ces in the ognisable. launched a strike on two neighbour- Although pushed out of the capital “Some countries...should not try to neva is due to decide this week whether to southern district of Wadajir, injuring The attack was claimed by Al Qae- ing restaurants in Mogadishu. in 2011, the group still controls parts use the Human Rights Council — such a authorise an investigation into the Kasai nine people including the district’s da-linked Shebaab militants. After a massive blast from a sui- of the countryside and launches reg- respectable institution — to settle scores violence. top government offi cial. “A martyrdom suicide bomber cide car bombing, the gunmen ular suicide bombings and raids in with states whose leaders they don’t like,” UN investigators say they have discov- “More than 10 people died in the drove a vehicle loaded with explo- roamed the restaurants, killing peo- the capital against civilian, govern- she said. ered 42 mass graves. blast which was carried out by the sives onto the district headquarters ple they found trapped inside before ment and military targets.

Home beckons across border for exiled Ivorian children Maasai land loss ups ante

By Zoom Dosso, AFP ing the 2010-11 violence, but ahead of Kenya elections Goulaleu, Ivory Coast has now dwindled to around 14,000. The anguish is not only Reuters last year as armed herders searching urbain Souomi was among families who have lost Nairobi for pasture have driven tens of thou- only fi ve years old, but precious years with their chil- sands of cattle onto private farms and Hhe still remembers the dren, but for the foster parents ranches from overgrazed communal day he trekked 50km across who took in the scared and enya’s opposition leader has land. the border into Liberia to es- unaccompanied youngsters raised tensions weeks ahead “We urge the politicians to stop cape gunfi re strafi ng his Ivory who arrived at refugee camps Kof elections by criticising the making disturbing comments on Coast village. on the Liberian side. Maasai community’s sale of ancestral land,” Stephen Ambani, chairman of “There was shooting every- “I love these children,” said land to other ethnic groups in an area the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, where. My big sister rounded Koulahi Sonni, who has been hit by political violence in the 1990s, told a news conference yesterday. us up and we ran away to go to caring for 10-year-old Salo- land rights experts said. Much of Maasai-dominated Narok Liberia,” he recalled, caught mon and 6-year-old Estelle. Many cash-strapped Maasai have and Kajiado counties was made into up in a wave of violence linked “I don’t know how I will see become landless after subdividing and group ranches, with shared title to a disputed 2010 presiden- them again.” selling swathes of land to the south of deeds, in the 1960s in an eff ort to bet- tial election that would leave The children’s mother made Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where they ter manage nomads’ grazing lands. 3,000 people dead. it to the camp, but died weeks used to roam with their cattle. But mismanagement by elected Now 11, Hurbain is nervous after giving birth to Estelle, “Years of neglect and abuse is forc- committees, who often proved cor- but excited to go home, end- leaving them in Sonni’s hands. ing them to trade in their birthright rupt, led to the subdivision of land ing six years as one of around As he waited for their re- for survival,” opposition presidential into individual title deeds, which have 1,000 children growing up in turn, their father Robert candidate Raila Odinga told a news then been sold on, often to other eth- neighbouring Liberia in refu- Sankan Rufi n recalled the ter- conference late on Monday. nic groups. gee camps while separated rible years when he could not “Jubilee has refused to enact prop- With increasingly frequent from their families. Exiled Ivorian children Hurbain Souomi (left) and Thierry Souomi are hugged by their grandfather trace his children and had no er laws to protect these community droughts and population growth, it is Setting off from Bahn, a vil- Lah Justin on their return in their village in Goulaleu. idea about their fate. lands,” he said, referring to the ruling becoming harder for nomads to con- lage in northern Liberia, a Red “When there was an attack party of President Uhuru Kenyatta tinue their traditional way of life. Cross convoy snakes through the three little boys emerging Liberian refugee camp. Un- In his grandfather’s arms, here, I told my wife to take who hopes to retain power in elections Many young, educated Maasai are the intensely green landscape from the Red Cross 4x4. fortunately their sister who he closes his eyes. the children and get ahead of on August 8. keen to sell their land and invest in of this border region to Gou- “My name is Lah Keuhoua took them over there died in Since 2011, the Red Cross me to Liberia. After I crossed, Last week, he called on non-Maasai businesses like hotels, Johnson Mali laleu, where Hurbain was born Justin, and I am their gran- the camp,” he told AFP. has reunited 300 children I started looking for them. I communities to “remain” on their ole Kaunga, a Maasai activist told the in western Ivory Coast. dad,” he said. “I can’t fi nd the The children’s mother also with their families, explains searched in almost all the ref- own land rather than buying up Maa- Thomson Reuters Foundation. Accompanied by his two words to express my happi- died giving birth not long after Varney Bawn, a spokes- ugee camps, but I did not fi nd sai ancestral land around Kajiado, “They end up buying vehicles, in- brothers Thierry, 10, and Os- ness to fi nd myself in front of they left, their grandfather ex- man for the International them,” he told AFP. 80km south of the capital, Nairobi. vesting in things which don’t last,” he car, 9, tears stream down Hur- my grandchildren.” plained, and though their fa- Committee of the Red Cross After Red Cross staff passed Land has been one of the main said in a phone interview. bain’s face as a welcome party Justin said he didn’t have ther was in hospital he would (ICRC) in Liberia. through with photos of Salo- drivers of confl ict in Kenya since in- “The best thing would actually be appears for the Souomis, with the strength to walk the long be home soon. “This is the fourth time we mon, he recognised his son. dependence in 1963, with politicians to maintain land as communal but if villagers waving mango tree distance across the border, but Hurbain is confused about are reunifying Ivorian children Estelle has never lived in whipping up historic grievances over the community themselves are push- leaves and rice plants in a fes- remembers the day they set off . his older sister’s whereabouts. with their parents this year,” Ivory Coast and Salomon will land loss to incite their supporters to ing for subdivision into private (ti- tive ritual. “We didn’t have any idea “I don’t really know where she he told AFP. barely remember it, but the move away voters opposed to them, tles), then it becomes a challenge.” One old man dressed in tra- where they went. Because of is,” he says. The number of Ivorians liv- brother and sister will now experts say. Leaders should help the Maasai fi nd ditional robes immediately the Red Cross we eventually He is too young to remem- ing in Liberian refugee camps begin the process of getting to Dozens have been killed and injured alternatives to livestock as a source of jumps up, dancing towards found out that they were in a ber. peaked at 220,000 follow- know their family. in Kenya’s Laikipia region over the income, he said. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 11 AMERICAS

MEDIA TECHNOLOGY GOVERNMENT DIPLOMACY Parenting expert sues Uber to allow tipping for Trump picks Republican China invites Ivanka Disney over Inside Out drivers, reversing policy lawyer for US labour board Trump, Kushner to visit

A parenting and child development specialist has Uber Technologies Inc will, for the first time, US President Donald Trump was poised yesterday to The government of China has invited US sued Walt Disney Co and its Pixar unit, accusing allow drivers to collect tips through the Uber nominate Washington lawyer Marvin Kaplan to the President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka them of stealing from her the concept for their smartphone app, the company said yesterday, National Labor Relations Board, nudging the agency Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to visit 2015 blockbuster movie, Inside Out. In a complaint part of a broader eff ort to improve its often- toward a Republican majority that could overturn a Beijing later this year, a White House off icial said filed on Monday in Los Angeles federal court, contentious relationship with its drivers. series of decisions that have riled businesses. Late yesterday. China’s overture appeared aimed Denise Daniels said the animated film, featuring Uber has for years opposed adding a tipping on Monday, the White House issued a statement at deepening engagement with the influential colour-coded characters representing individual merchandise revenue from Inside Out. The film has feature to the app, which upset drivers who saying Trump had selected Kaplan, a fellow young couple, who played a role in the first human emotions, mirrors a children’s programme grossed more than $850mn worldwide since its June have argued that tips would help compensate Republican currently with the federal Occupational summit between Trump and Chinese President called The Moodsters that she conceived and 2015 release. Daniels said this “extreme success” was for decreasing wages. Drivers in Houston, Safety and Health Review Commission, to one of Xi Jinping in April, which set an improved tone pitched to Disney every year from 2005 to 2009. not possible without her work, and that Disney should Minneapolis and Seattle are now allowed collect the board’s five seats. After Trump off icially names for relations between the world’s two biggest Daniels, who lives in Minnesota’s Twin Cities pay her because it is “custom and common in the tips. The feature will be available to all drivers him, he must be confirmed by the US Senate. The economies. Kushner, a senior adviser who area and has appeared on TV shows including entertainment industry.” Disney did not immediately by the end of July, Uber said. Tipping is part of NLRB, which oversees union elections and disputes entered the White House with no government Today and Oprah, said she had an “implied-in- respond to requests for comment. Ronald Schutz, a a broader set of features San Francisco-based between workers, unions, and employers, has been experience, has been assigned the job of fact” contract with Disney requiring that she be lawyer for Daniels declined to comment. Daniels, in her Uber rolled out yesterday, which also includes controlled by Democrats for nearly a decade, and conducting Middle East peace diplomacy and paid from box off ice, DVD, Blu-Ray, iTunes and early 60s, was unavailable to comment. paying drivers while they wait for passengers. they currently have a 2-1 majority with two vacancies. will visit the region this week for talks. Soaring Rebirth heat forces grounding of fl ights

AFP “Temperatures will pretty Los Angeles much stay in the 110-115 range for the next coming week,” she added. scorching heatwave The heat has led to electric- in the western United ity outages in several parts of AStates has ground- California, as more people turn ed fl ights, caused fi res and on air conditioners to battle prompted power outages, with the heat, overtaxing the power record temperatures expected system. Several wildfi res were yesterday in several states in- also burning in the state. cluding Arizona and Nevada. “If you can avoid being out- The extreme temperatures side in general, that’s the best Newly naturalised citizens wave American flags after being sworn in as American citizens during a naturalisation ceremony in San Francisco, California. prompted American Airlines thing you could do today,” Fern- yesterday to ground 43 fl ights andez said. “Everyone should to and from Phoenix Sky Har- hydrate, and if you have to be bor Airport, where tempera- outside, try to do so before the tures were expected to reach sun rises or after sunset.” 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49C). The canceled fl ights are part Company spokesman Ross of the airline’s regional fl ight Feinstein told AFP the fl ights system, and are operated by were run by two regional part- other carriers that use Bom- ners — Skywest and Mesa bardier aircraft which are not — which operate smaller air- permitted to fl y when tem- planes that cannot take off peratures exceed 118 degrees, Trump fl ays N Korea when temperatures reach a American said. certain level. Smaller aircraft, such as “Each aircraft has diff erent those made by Bombardier, International Standard At- are more susceptible to heat, mosphere (ISA) performance which makes air less dense and specifi cations, which is set reduces lift, than larger, more by the aircraft manufacturer,” powerful aircraft. Feinstein said. “This also takes Phoenix, which tied a record after student’s death into account the elevation at high temperature on Tuesday the airport. at 118 degrees, is no stranger to North Korea’s misdeeds are piling up On Twitter, Republican Senator Marco injury was probably caused by cardiopul- For Phoenix, that is limited extreme heat. making it diff icult for the US to ignore Rubio wrote that Warmbier “should never monary arrest cutting the blood supply to to 118 degrees.” In Death Valley in eastern have been in jail for tearing down a stupid the brain. He said the airline’s other California and in the town of AFP banner. And he most certainly should not Warmbier’s release came amid mounting mainline fl ights, which con- Needles near the Arizona bor- Chicago have been murdered for it.” tensions with Washington following a se- cern larger jets, had not been der, the National Weather Serv- Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American mis- ries of missile tests by Pyongyang, an arms aff ected by the blazing tem- ice is forecasting high tempera- sionary who spent almost two years in a buildup that Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has peratures. tures of 127 degrees Fahrenheit resident Donald Trump slammed the North Korean prison before he was re- dubbed “a clear and present danger to all”. The soaring heat has aff ected (52.8 Celsius) this week. “brutal regime” in Pyongyang follow- leased in November 2014, asked people to His death also brought attention to much of the western US where The National Park Serv- Ping the death of Otto Warmbier, the pray for Warmbier’s family. North Korea’s human rights record. triple-digit temperatures were ice cautioned tourists there US student released in a coma last week after “For Otto to be returned to the US in The Washington-based Committee for expected throughout the week, about the “EXTREME SUM- nearly 18 months in detention in North Ko- the state he was in — and then for him to Human Rights in North Korea tied Warm- a spokeswoman for the Na- MER HEAT” in a warning on its rea. The 22-year-old was medically evacu- die because of it — is not only an outrage, bier’s fate to “millions of unknown North tional Weather Service said. website. ated to the United States last Tuesday, suf- but it is a tragedy for his entire family,” Bae Koreans” who are “starved, tortured, bru- “We are expecting tempera- It also issued an “Excessive fering from severe brain damage. said in a statement. “This did not have to talised and killed in North Korea’s politi- tures in the neighbourhood of Heat Warning” at the Grand He died six days later surrounded by rela- happen and should never happen again.” cal prison camps”. Warmbier’s family said 120 degrees in Nevada and in Canyon in Arizona, urging hik- tives in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Doctors last week said that Warmbier they believed the student had found peace southern California today,” Bi- ers to hydrate themselves and “The awful torturous mistreatment our had suff ered severe neurological injuries, after being fl own home. anca Hernandez told AFP. eat salty snacks. son received at the hands of the North Ko- Ivanka Trump at an American Technology and described him as being in a state of “When Otto returned to Cincinnati late reans ensured that no other outcome was Council roundtable at the White House. “unresponsive wakefulness”, opening his on June 13th he was unable to speak, un- possible,” the family said in a statement eyes and blinking, but showing no signs of able to see and unable to react to verbal Monday announcing Warmbier’s death. edies from befalling innocent people at the understanding language or of being aware commands. He looked very uncomfortable Warmbier was on a tourist trip when he hands of regimes that do not respect the of his surroundings. — almost anguished,” they said. was arrested and sentenced in March last rule of law or basic human decency.” His family said Monday that he fi rst ap- “Although we would never hear his year to 15 years hard labor for stealing a po- “The US once again condemns the bru- peared anguished when he fi rst arrived voice again, within a day the countenance litical poster from a North Korean hotel, a tality of the North Korean regime as we home, but died “at peace”. of his face changed — he was at peace. He punishment US offi cials decried as out of mourn its latest victim.” Kim Jong-Un’s regime claimed Warm- was home and we believe he could sense proportion to his alleged crime. Added Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: bier fell into a coma soon after he was sen- that,” they added. Trump condemned Pyongyang follow- “We hold North Korea accountable for Otto tenced last year, and that he had contract- Three more US citizens are currently ing news of his death. “It’s a brutal re- Warmbier’s unjust imprisonment, and de- ed botulism and been given a sleeping pill. being held by North Korea. Two were gime,” he said during a White House event. mand the release of three other Americans Tests carried out in the United States teachers at a Pyongyang university funded “Bad things happened but at least we got who have been illegally detained.” off ered no conclusive evidence as to the by overseas Christian groups, and the third him home to his parents.” Ex-Vietnam war POW Senator John cause of his neurological injuries, and no a Korean-American pastor who was ac- He then added with no explanation: McCain said in a statement that Warm- evidence of a botulism infection. cused of espionage for the South. “We’ll be able to handle it.” bier “was murdered by the Kim Jong-Un Warmbier’s doctors said he had suf- Following Warmbier’s death, the tour In a separate written statement, Trump regime”, and added that the United States fered extensive tissue loss in all regions of group that arranged his trip to North Ko- said: “Otto’s fate deepens my Administra- “cannot and should not tolerate the mur- his brain, but showed no signs of physical rea said it would no longer take Americans Tourists enter Death Valley National Park in California. tion’s determination to prevent such trag- der of its citizens by hostile powers”. trauma.They said that Warmbier’s brain into the isolated country. Democrat eyes anti-Trump upset in Georgia

AFP Polls are open from 7am to 7pm (1100-2300 he tweeted just before sunrise yesterday. “She bombarded Atlanta airwaves with election ad- may be forced to reassess their positions on Washington GMT). will fi ght for lower taxes, great healthcare strong vertising. Republicans have held Georgia’s sixth health care. The runoff is the third chance oppo- With Democrats potentially striking the fi rst security-a hard worker who will never give up! district since 1979. sition Democrats have to win a House seat since blow against Trump in 2017, the race has drawn VOTE TODAY,” he then added. But as an increasingly well-educated, diverse Trump took offi ce. oters were heading to the polls in the substantial national attention — and vast out- Ossoff is trying to fl ip the suburban Atlanta suburban district it is exactly the kind of terri- Special congressional elections in Kansas and state of Georgia yesterday to decide the side contributions to both candidates. district that Republican Tom Price left to be- tory which Democrats need to fl ip if they want to Montana — also to replace Republicans who Vmost expensive US congressional race, “It’s a neck and neck race, and it’s all about come Trump’s health secretary. gain the 24 seats necessary to reclaim the House joined Trump’s team — were seen as a chance a $60mn political brawl where a Democratic turnout now,” Ossoff told WSB television Mon- The Democrat won the fi rst round against of Representatives in 2018. for Democrats to score fi rst strikes against the novice could score an upset in a conservative day. “That’s why we’re so focused on get out the several candidates in April, but fell just shy of “If the Democrats win the Georgia Sixth it administration. stronghold and strike a blow against the presi- vote” operations. outright victory. should be a wake-up call to the Republican Par- But with Democrats falling short in those rac- dency of Donald Trump. Ossoff and his Republican rival, the former The June 20 runoff quickly became the most ty,” GOP strategist Rick Tyler, ex-spokesman for es, and the Republican expected to win in South The race — seen as an indicator for next year’s Georgia secretary of state Karen Handel, expensive US House race in history, with the Senator Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign, Carolina — a second state which is also holding mid-term elections — appeared virtually dead- spent the last days crisscrossing the southern campaigns, political action committees and told MSNBC. a special congressional election — all eyes have locked as both candidates sprinted to the fi nish, state’s sixth congressional district speaking to other outside groups raising nearly $60mn, ac- Some observers were also eyeing the race turned to Georgia. polls showed. voters. cording to government reform and ethics group for clues into how voters perceive the Repub- Should Democrats fail to convert at least Republicans are facing a sobering reminder Despite Trump’s low approval ratings the Issue One. lican health care bill currently making its way one of the special election seats, it could be a of their president’s poor approval ratings, as president expressed support for Handel, 55. Ossoff has unleashed a massive ground op- through Congress. demoralising blow for administration oppo- 30-year-old centrist Democrat Jon Ossoff , “Democrat Jon Ossoff , who wants to raise eration reportedly consisting of 12,000 door- Handel has aligned herself with Trump, who nents who have seen these races as early tests a fi lmmaker and onetime political assistant, your taxes to the highest level and is weak on knocking, call-making volunteers. campaigned heavily on repealing Obamacare. of the national strength of an anti-Trump clings to the narrowest of leads. crime and security, doesn’t even live in district,” The two campaigns and political groups have If she loses, Republicans in swing districts movement. Gulf Times 12 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

CELEBRITY CRACKDOWN TERRORISM CLEAN-UP CIVIC Vietnamese executives Singapore border guard Malaysia tackles tanker China shames jaywalkers held for financial crimes arrested for ‘Syria’ plans oil spill off state of Johor through facial recognition

Vietnamese police have arrested four former A border security off icer in Singapore has been Malaysia is using chemical dispersants to Chinese cities are cracking down on jaywalkers executives of a subsidiary of state-run oil arrested for planning to fight in Syria, off icials break up an oil slick off its coast after a tanker by installing facial recognition kits at company PetroVietnam for criminal economic said. Muhammad Khairul bin Mohamed, 24, an laden with marine diesel sank last week, intersections to identify and shame them by mismanagement, state media reported unarmed traff ic off icer working at the crossing a top official said yesterday. The MT Putri posting their photo on public screens, state yesterday. Three of the executives previously with Malaysia, was arrested under the Internal Sea, registered in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, media said yesterday. It is the latest use of the worked at PVTex, a yarn manufacturer owned Security Act, the Ministry of Home Aff airs said. went down on Thursday in a busy shipping technology in China, where it has been used by PetroVietnam. They included former The act allows for detention without trial for lane off the southern state of Johor, near by fast-food chain KFC to predict orders and chairman Tran Trung Chi Hieu, former chief up to two years. “Through prolonged exposure Singapore. Authorities said all six Indonesian in public restrooms to foil toilet paper thefts. accountant Vu Phuong Nam and former to online materials on the Syrian conflict, crew were missing and feared dead. Two This time, cities in four provinces are using the trade department head Dao Ngo Hoang. Do Khairul perceived the Syrian conflict in which marine department boats were using chemical hardware to keep pedestrians from crossing at US actor Johnny Depp greets Japanese fans Van Hong, chairman and general director of he was prepared to die in battle as a ‘martyr’,” dispersants on the more than 3km-wide (two- red lights. The technology has detected more during a promotional event for the film Pirates of PetroVietnam subsidiary Kinh Bac Petroleum the statement said. A colleague who knew of mile) slick, Zulkifili Abu Bakar, director-general than 6,000 instances of people crossing red the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in Tokyo Construction and Investment JSC, was also Khairul’s plans has been put under a travel of the Maritime Enforcement Agency, said in a lights since it was installed in early May in Jinan, yesterday. The film opens in Japan on July 1. arrested in connection with the investigation. restriction order after failing to report him. statement. capital of eastern Shandong province. Moon urges N Korea to return detainees swiftly

Reuters Seoul

outh Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday said SNorth Korea should swiftly return South Koreans and Amer- icans detained in the reclusive nation and that it had “a heavy responsibility” in the death of a US university student. Otto Warmbier, the 22-year- old student who had been held prisoner in North Korea for 17 months, died at a Cincinnati A pair of binoculars points towards North Korea at the observatory. hospital on Monday just days Moon Jae-in after North Korea released him against the government, accord- and are in custody, a lawmaker from captivity in a coma, his News, Moon said that while “we ing to North Korea’s state media. briefed by the South Korean spy family said. cannot know for sure that North In March 2016, Kim Dong-chul, agency told reporters last week. Three other US citizens, who Korea killed Mr. Warmbier ... I a 62-year-old Korean-American Dozens of North Korean mis- are ethnic Koreans, and six South believe it is quite clear that they missionary, was sentenced to 10 sile launches and two nuclear Koreans remain in custody in have a heavy responsibility in the years of hard labour for subver- bomb tests since the beginning North Korea. Warmbier was ar- process that led to Mr. Warmbi- Visitors look through binoculars towards North Korea at the Odusan observatory, near the Demilitarized sion. North Korea is also holding of last year have heightened ten- rested while visiting as a tourist er’s death.” Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea, in Paju. The death of US student Otto Warmbier following Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo-lim. sions on the Korean peninsula. and accused of trying to steal an “I believe we must now have his incarceration in North Korea has shaken tour companies catering to thrill seekers, with several He was charged with subversion Pyongyang has vowed to de- item bearing a propaganda slo- the perception that North Korea reconsidering whether to take Americans to the reclusive state. and given a hard-labour life sen- velop a nuclear-tipped intercon- gan, according to North Korean is an irrational regime,” Moon tence in 2015. tinental ballistic missile capable media. Doctors caring for him told the CBS television network. The South Korean government blamed the “brutality of the against the state. Korean-Amer- Three South Korean nation- of hitting the US mainland. last week described him as hav- South Korea’s Blue House yes- will make every eff ort for the re- North Korean regime” for Warm- icans Tony Kim and Kim Hak als were detained in North Ko- Pyongyang continued to test- ing extensive brain damage that terday cited Moon separately as turn of those held in North Ko- bier’s death. North Korea said last Song, who worked at the foreign- rea during their missionary work fi re missiles since South Korean left him in a state of “unrespon- saying: “It is very deplorable that rea, presidential spokesman Park month it was its sovereign right funded Pyongyang University of since 2013, and the remaining leader Moon took offi ce pledging sive wakefulness.” North Korea does not respect hu- Soo-hyun told a briefi ng. to “ruthlessly punish” US citi- Science and Technology, were three South Koreans are North to engage in dialogue with North In an interview with CBS man rights.” US President Donald Trump zens it had detained for crimes recently detained for hostile acts Korean defectors who returned Korea.

Thai bomber says he sought revenge for coup Thieves crash A Thai man publicly restricted people’s rights,” Legal ammunition hearse after confessed yesterday to he told reporters at a packed speedy joyride planting a bomb inside police press conference an army-run hospital last following nearly a week in in New Zealand month, saying he was military custody. Since 1932 motivated by a loathing the Thai army has carried The owners of a New for the military and their out 12 successful coups Zealand funeral home were frequent coups. The blast -- two of them in the past flabbergasted when they occurred on the third decade, a turbulent period learned that thieves had anniversary of the junta’s marked by repeated rounds broken into their business 22 May coup and struck of deadly protests and premises and stolen a hearse a VIP waiting room inside short-lived governments. to take it on a high-speed a military-owned hospital Despite a veneer of stability joyride yesterday. The two in Bangkok, wounding 21 under junta rule today, thieves, 13- and 31-years-old, people. Junta chief Prayut Thais remain divided and stole the Holden Commodore Chan-ocha initially played uncertain over the future, hearse early yesterday down the timing of the three years after the ousting morning before crashing it bombing after suggestions of the elected government into a power pole and through it must have been of Yingluck Shinawatra in a farm fence. Todd Gower, orchestrated by someone 2014. During his confession the co-owner of Collingwood angered by his putsch. But Wattana also admitted to Funeral Home in the central yesterday the man accused planting a small pipe bomb North Island town of Rotorua, of carrying out the attack, in Bangkok that caused no told a newspaper that he 62-year-old former engineer injuries in 2007, the year couldn’t believe that someone Wattana Phumret, calmly after the military ousted would steal from a mortuary. detailed how he built a small Yingluck’s brother Thaksin. “They [hearses] are used device packed with nails and He also said he planted two to help families in times of left it in a vase in Bangkok’s small pipe bombs in the need,” he said, adding that King Mongkut hospital. run up to this year’s coup the specially-fitted vehicle “I was inspired by my anniversary, a rare claim of has been written off and hatred for governments that responsibility for several he has already organised a come from military coups. explosions on a long list of replacement. Police have Each coup has caused an unsolved bomb attacks in A man pushes a trolley bearing legal documents as he passes the Law Courts building which accommodates the High Court of Australia, charged the elder of the economic disaster and Thailand. Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of NSW, located in central Sydney, Australia. two thieves and referred the 13-year-old to youth services. World’s biggest fi sh market will be moved, says Tokyo governor

AFP ers, adding that redevelopment pointed to Tsukiji’s antiquated ity, but Koike had earlier said she Tokyo would happen within fi ve years. refrigeration systems. But those might reconsider the relocation. “I think it’s wisest to use both plans were put on ice after Koike Meanwhile, Tsukiji’s whole- Toyosu and Tsukiji,” she said, said last summer she would salers have voiced frustration okyo’s famed Tsukiji fi sh referring to the new location. postpone the move originally set over the delay, saying postpone- market – the world’s big- The government initially for late 2016. ment of the move was cost- Tgest – will be moved to a planned to sell all or part of the The relocation plan was ing them millions of dollars a new location, the city’s top of- current site near the upscale marred by problems, including month. fi cial confi rmed yesterday, after Ginza shopping district. the discovery that contractors Tsukiji handles an eye-pop- months of delays over concerns Koike, a former TV anchor- had inexplicably failed to fi ll in ping 480-odd types of seafood about toxic contamination at the woman elected last year as To- a basement at the new site with and hundreds of fruits and veg- new site. kyo’s fi rst female governor, did clean soil as a buff er against un- etables, according to the city’s But city governor Yuriko not say when the main market derground pollution. government. Koike added a new element to would move to Toyosu, a former In January results of the fi - More than 1,600 tonnes of the long-standing relocation gas plant. “We’ll need to discuss nal testing showed that levels of seafood worth some 1.6bn yen plan, saying the current site detailed schedules with the peo- toxic materials, including ben- ($14mn) pass through the mar- would eventually be redeveloped ple involved,” she said. zene, detected in underground ket every day. It is also known to capitalise on Tsukiji’s globally Last week, the top-selling water at the new site were above for new year tuna auctions. In recognised brand. Yomiuri newspaper reported nationally set limits. The previ- January, Kiyoshi Kimura, Ja- The present location, a popu- that the governor was mulling ous test showed high levels of pan’s self-styled “Tuna King,” lar tourist attraction that hosts the possibility of opening the mercury inside the basement. paid more than $600,000 for a an early-morning tuna auction, new site in May next year. Koike said yesterday the mar- 212-kg bluefi n tuna at the fi rst is earmarked for the Tokyo 2020 Plans to uproot the more ket could move as long as the auction of the new year. Olympics. than 80-year-old market have pollution issues were tackled. In 2013, the restaurateur paid “After that, we will turn it been in the works for years, with The local government has paid a record $1.8mn for a bluefi n — a into a new market with a food advocates citing the need for a whopping 86bn yen ($770mn) threatened species— outbidding theme park,” Koike told report- upgraded technology as they in cleanup costs at the new facil- a rival bidder from Hong Kong. Fishmongers checking bluefin tuna prior to the new year’s first auction at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 13

BRITAIN/IRELAND

DECISION TREND CRIME CRIME BLUNDER Travel insurance for cancer British requests for French Elderly woman robbed at Man charged with NHS Orkney apologises as patients being reviewed citizenship triple in a year gunpoint in her home teenager’s murder patients’ notes destroyed

The markets watchdog has opened a public Applications for French nationality by British A vulnerable elderly woman has been robbed A man has been charged with the murder NHS Orkney has apologised to hundreds consultation to see if changes are needed citizens living in France more than tripled at gunpoint in her home by three men in a of an 18-year-old student whose body was of mental health patients after confidential to make it easier for people with cancer to last year compared with 2015, according “cowardly and callous” attack. The victim, in found at a beauty spot. Ellen Higginbottom notes were destroyed. The patient notes get travel insurance. The Financial Conduct to interior ministry figures. The figures, her 70s, was alone at her house in Lancaster was found with multiple stab wounds at of 373 people were shredded by mistake Authority said it was also looking at the obtained by Le Monde newspaper, showed Road, Enfield, when she answered a knock Orrell Water Park, Wigan, early on Saturday. instead of being scanned into digital reasons for pricing diff erences in premiums 1,363 Britons in France applied to become at the door. Three men, one holding a gun, She had been reported missing by her records. NHS Orkney chief executive quoted by insurers. The consultation is part French citizens in 2016, compared with 385 pushed her inside and forced her to hand over family on Friday after failing to return home Cathie Cowan said there was no breach of a wider look at problems some consumers the previous year – a 254% increase. The £200 cash. Police are appealing for witnesses from college. Mark Steven Buckley, 51, of in patient confidentiality but that records can face when trying to buy insurance. The news came after Germany’s federal statistics to the “heinous” incident, at 2.40pm on New Hall Lane, Preston has been remanded had been destroyed due to “human FCA said insurance markets were becoming bureau last week said a record 2,865 Britons Monday. Detective constable Leisa Johnson in custody and will appear at Wigan error”. All the patients involved have been more segmented with the use of “big data” - or took German citizenship last year, up 361% said: “This was a cowardly and callous attack Magistrates’ Court today. Three other written to and a helpline has been set up detailed information about which customers on 2015. The bureau said the link to the UK’s on a vulnerable woman in her own home. She people have been arrested in connection to answer any concerns. NHS Orkney, in pose the highest risk. Such customers have to decision to leave the EU “seems clear”. Le has been left distraught by this incident and with her death. Friends said Ellen was last common with health boards all over the “navigate a complex and confusing market” to Monde noted that the French figure showed has lost confidence to the extent that she is seen at the water park. Police found her country, has an ongoing programme to find insurers willing to cover them. how worried Britons were of leaving the EU. afraid to open her front door.” body on Saturday during a search. digitise patient records.

Police Silent tribute question Premier faces man who attacked legal challenge Muslims

AFP London over proposed olice yesterday questioned a man suspected of de- Pliberately mowing down Muslims in London, as the in- terior minister said Britain was “bruised but not broken” by a deal with DUP series of terror attacks. Britain was coming to terms Guardian News and Media It is understood that potential amounts of public money. with the aftermath of its fourth London lead claimants have been warned The Sinn Fein president, Ger- bloody assault in three months to expect signifi cant press atten- ry Adams, also accused May of following Monday’s van attack on tion – Miller has said the Brexit not honouring the Good Friday worshippers leaving the Finsbury heresa May is facing a land- case made her the most hated agreement after meeting the Park Mosque in north London. mark legal challenge over woman in Britain – and that the prime minister last week. The string of attacks had Ther proposed deal with the claim will need to be crowdfund- The legal challenge is likely to “bruised but not broken the heart Democratic Unionist Party on the ed. focus on subsection fi ve of Article of this great nation”, Home Secre- grounds that it breaches the Good Lawyers are understood to be 1 of the 1998 Good Friday agree- tary Amber Rudd said. Friday agreement. keen for the judicial review to be ment, which states that the UK The family of Darren Osborne, An experienced legal team, heard before the end of this year and Irish governments “affi rm the man suspected of deliberately which has been involved in con- at the latest. that whatever choice is freely ex- driving into the Muslim group, stitutional challenges, is planning An announcement of a deal be- ercised by a majority of the people said he was “troubled”, describing to apply for a judicial review of tween the Conservatives and the of Northern Ireland, the power of his action as “sheer madness”. the deal once it is announced, the DUP to form a minority govern- the sovereign government with Osborne, 47, a father-of-four Guardian has learned. ment was expected last Wednes- jurisdiction there shall be exer- from Cardiff , was arrested. Police High court judges would be day but was delayed due to the cised with rigorous impartiality believe the suspect acted alone asked to examine whether the Grenfell Tower fi re, in which at on behalf of all the people in the and searches were being conduct- pact breaches the British govern- least 79 people died or are pre- diversity of their identities and ed at a residential address in the ment’s commitment to exercise sumed dead. traditions and shall be founded on Welsh capital. “rigorous impartiality” in the Politicians from all sides have the principles of full respect for, Police are treating the incident Good Friday agreement. warned the prime minister that and equality of, civil, political, as a terror attack and Prime Min- The case, which could be heard striking a deal with Arlene Fos- social and cultural rights, of free- ister Theresa May described it as in the Supreme Court because of ter’s party could put the fragile dom from discrimination for all “sickening”, vowing on Monday its constitutional signifi cance, peace in Northern Ireland at risk. citizens, and of parity of esteem to fi ght extremism in all its forms. follows warnings by politicians Sir John Major said last week and of just and equal treatment One man who was already re- from all sides that the deal risks that a deal risked alienating for the identity, ethos and aspira- ceiving fi rst aid at the time died undermining the peace process in armed republicans and loyalists, tions of both communities.” following the assault, while nine Northern Ireland. and cause resentment in other The phrase “rigorous impartiali- people were taken to hospital and The Transport Secretary, Chris parts of the UK if the government ty” and what it implies is likely to be two others were treated for minor Grayling, said yesterday that the made promises to spend large the crucial legal issue to be tested. injuries. “I’m sorry that my broth- deal to support the Conserva- er has been that troubled that it tive’s minority government may has taken him to this level of trou- not be sealed until after the Agreement ‘possible this week’ bledness,” said the suspect’s sister Queen’s speech. Nicola Osborne. “He has just been It is understood that the legal The small Northern Irish requires support from the 10 troubled for a long time.” challenge has been in preparation Democratic Unionist Party members of the DUP to pass His mother Christine, 72, said for some time but that any action could agree a deal this week to legislation. The DUP source, she screamed when she saw her would be announced after the prop up Prime Minister Theresa speaking on condition of son in television footage. “My son prime minister outlines the deal May’s Conservative party anonymity, said it was possible is no terrorist — he’s just a man in the coming days. after it lost its parliamentary that a deal was possible this with problems,” The Sun newspa- Prince Harry reacts as it begins raining as he met members of the public in Sydney, Australia, Lawyers are believed to have majority in a snap election week as it was agreed in per quoted her as saying. yesterday. Harry’s visit was aimed at promoting the 2018 Invictus Games. found a lead claimant to fi ght the earlier this month, a DUP principle, but some details His nephew Ellis Osborne, 26, case, similar to the role that the source said yesterday. The needed to be tied down. The said: “We are massively shocked. investment banker Gina Miller DUP and Conservatives have finance ministry was still to Our hearts go out to the people had when she won a Supreme been negotiating since the agree the details of spending in who have been injured.” Queen Elizabeth II stands with members of the royal family as they observe a minutes’ silence to Court ruling ordering ministers to vote on June 8 when May lost the province but it was not an His uncle was “not a racist”, he commemorate the victims and survivors of the recent attacks and tragedies that have happened introduce emergency legislation her majority in the 650-seat overriding problem, the source said. “It’s madness. It is obviously in Britain, on day one of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet, in Ascot, west of London, yesterday. to authorise Britain’s departure parliament, meaning she said. sheer madness.” from the EU in January.

Hammond hints at Cable launches bid softer Brexit stance

Agencies Brexit negotiating period ends in London early 2019. to be LibDem leader Brexit should see Britain “out- side the customs union itself, but Guardian News and Media paring himself to William Glad- an all-male shortlist for its lead- hancellor of the Excheq- with current customs border ar- London stone, who became prime minis- ership contest, despite having uer Philip Hammond yes- rangements remaining in place ter aged 82. several new female MPs. Cterday appeared to suggest until new long-term arrangements “When the question arises, of In the blog announcing his a softer Brexit than envisaged by are up and running,” he said. ince Cable has launched a general election coming up, I’ve leadership, Cable said he would Prime Minister Theresa May as “To do this in the context of his bid to become the next then got to make a choice; do I let put scrutiny of the Brexit negoti- he outlined a business-focused our wider objectives will be chal- Vleader of the Liberal Dem- one of my very able younger col- ations at the centre of his leader- “Brexit for Britain.” lenging,” he warned. ocrats just over a week after win- leagues take over or do I do what ship, reaffi rming Farron’s central In a speech in London’s fi - Hammond had looked set to ning back the Twickenham seat William Gladstone did, quite a pledge of the election campaign nancial district, Hammond ad- lose his job until May’s election he lost to the Tories in 2015. while ago, he became prime min- to fi ght for a second referendum vocated a Brexit deal that “puts fl op. He has now re-emerged as The former business secretary ister when he was 82, I think, on the terms of the EU exit deal. jobs and prosperity fi rst” and big business’ leading proponent is the fi rst party fi gure to go public way beyond my years. Winston However, unlike Farron – who allows employers to “access the in the government with his bid to replace Tim Farron, Churchill did in his mid-70s,” he ruled out deals or pacts with op- talent they need” if post-Brexit In his speech, Hammond also who announced that he would be said. position parties – Cable said the restrictions are imposed on im- reiterated he planned to stick to stepping down as LibDem leader “I mean these things happen, LibDems “will need to work with migration by EU citizens. the government’s target of turn- last week. some of the brightest and most like-minded people in other par- He appeared to rule out Britain ing Britain’s budget defi cit into “I am ready to commit my en- interesting people in British poli- ties”. leaving the European Union with a surplus by the mid-2020s, de- ergy, enthusiasm and experience tics recently have been relatively Cable also said he would fi ght no deal, which May and other spite pressure from the resur- to the task of leading the Liberal old. You remember Bernie Sanders on his economic record, includ- ministers in her Conservative gent opposition Labour Party for Democrats through what will be in America as well. I think age is a ing early warnings of the 2008 fi - government have said would be more public spending. a period of chronic uncertainty,” surety, if you feel old. I don’t feel nancial crisis. “With the economy acceptable if negotiations fail. In a statement following yes- Cable, 74, wrote in a blog on Lib- old. I feel young and energetic and approaching the Brexit iceberg, His speech came amid specu- terday’s fi rst day of formal talks Dem Voice. “With the prospect of I’m very much up for a contest.” Liberal Democrats need more lation since the party’s surpris- in Brussels, Brexit Secretary another election looming large, Jo Swinson, the East Dunbar- than ever to warn of the dangers ingly poor performance in a snap David Davis made no mention of we must be ready for the fi ght.” tonshire MP who was understood ahead and the need for a new election on June 8 that May could protecting the interests of Brit- Speaking later on BBC Radio to be the members’ favourite and course,” he said. soon face a leadership challenge. ish businesses or transitional ar- 5 Live, Cable said he could step Farron’s preferred successor, an- The MP said the Conservatives Hammond urged “mutually rangements. down in future for a younger suc- nounced last week she would not were “in disarray and in retreat” benefi cial transitional arrange- Davis, like May, has promised cessor. He will by 79 by the next run for the leadership. and that he did not believe Labour ments to avoid unnecessary to “deliver on the will of the Brit- general election, but said he felt Swinson’s decision not to run could continue to make gains, cit- disruption and dangerous cliff ish people” following last year’s young enough to do the job, com- means the party is likely to have ing the party’s economic record. Cable: ‘very much up for a contest’ edges” when Britain’s two-year Brexit referendum. Gulf Times 14 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 BRITAIN/IRELAND

Unite offi cial who lost to McCluskey in leadership race ‘sacked’

Guardian News and Media use of data. He lost out in the deselection of MPs who fail to Midlands mayoral candidate, fl at, Coyne promised to review on a turnout of just over 12%. tary; union employees actively London April election by fewer than back Labour’s leader. Coyne was Sion Simon, to contact potential payments made for the benefi t Coyne has asked Gerard Walker, seeking to prevent Coyne raising 6,000 votes after challenging backed by many MPs unhappy supporters. of union offi cials. the certifi cation offi cer who over- the question as to whether union McCluskey’s leadership. with Corbyn’s leadership. During the campaign, McClus- The incumbent McCluskey, sees union elections, to investi- resources were improperly used senior Unite offi cial who The union election was de- The investigation into Coyne key’s supporters were angered by 66, defeated Coyne after a bit- gate whether the leader of Unite to assist with the purchase of a lost a close battle with scribed as a battle for the heart was led by Andrew Murray, Coyne’s claim that McCluskey ter month-long campaign that and his staff manipulated the un- luxury fl at; and repeated harass- ALen McCluskey to lead and soul of the Labour party, Unite’s chief of staff who was had behaved like a 1970s “un- culminated in Coyne’s suspen- ion’s procedures to win the poll. ment of Coyne and his support- Britain’s biggest union has been which Unite bankrolls with seconded to the Corbyn cam- ion baron”, throwing his weight sion from his union role 24 hours Documents show that alleged ers by union employees. sacked. £1.5mn a year. paign during the general elec- around in Westminster, making before the vote declaration. rule breaches include allow- Coyne said he was tried by a Gerard Coyne, who was the McCluskey, one of Jeremy Cor- tion, it is understood. and breaking political careers. McCluskey won 59,067 votes ing McCluskey to use databases “kangaroo court” and despaired union’s West Midlands regional byn’s key allies and leader of the Coyne was found guilty of us- Following the Guardian dis- (45.4%), Coyne won 53,544 while stopping Coyne from do- that he was tried by Murray, a organiser, was told that he must organisation that is Labour’s most ing Labour party data and a call closure that Unite gave a “loan” (41.5%) and grassroots candidate ing the same during the cam- former Communist party mem- leave after 28 years for the mis- generous donor, has called for the centre used by the party’s West to McCluskey of £400,000 for a Ian Allinson took 17,143 (13.1%), paign to become general secre- ber. More police New artwork at Serpentine Gallery Pavilion offi cers to carry Tasers

Guardian News and Media suspects, with it not needing London to be fi red almost nine out of 10 times when an offi cer points it at a suspect. he Metropolitan police Dick said: “Taser reduces the will signifi cantly increase need for physical contact and Tthe number of offi cers also the risk of unintended or carrying Taser electronic weap- unnecessary injuries to all par- ons, to off er them more protec- ties.” tion against a rising tide of vio- Theresa May, while home sec- lence. retary, was concerned about any Under the plans announced disproportionate use of Taser yesterday, another 1,867 offi cers electronic weapons against eth- will carry the devices, taking the nic minorities. Police chiefs are total in the Met to 6,400 of its combining more offi cers armed frontline staff , who police chiefs with the weapon with increased hope will be better able to defend use of body-worn cameras. The newly installed Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, by Burkinabe architect Diebedo Francis Kere, is pictured during its press preview in Kensington Gardens in west London themselves and the public. Dick said: “With the rollout yesterday. Burkina Faso’s Diebedo Francis Kere became the first African architect to design a temporary pavilion in London’s Hyde Park, a prestigious assignment given The expansion of the availa- of body-worn cameras to every to a diff erent world-famous architect every year. bility of the controversial electric uniformed offi cer, the public can stun gun has been approved by also rest assured that the use of the Met commissioner, Cressida Taser is correctly recorded and Dick. It comes as Britain faces an monitored and that the use of unprecedented terrorism threat, it is subject to comprehensive with London assessed by coun- scrutiny.” ter-terrorism chiefs to be most Rank and fi le offi cers believe at risk of attack. the terrorist threat means they Britain’s top police chief says need added protection. The con- increasing the number of offi cers cern after the three attacks on carrying the electronic weapons the capital since March is that May’s plans to axe free is necessary to protect against offi cers cannot wait for col- rising knife crime and assaults leagues with Taser electronic on offi cers. weapons or guns to arrive. About 4,000 out of 31,000 In the attack this month on Met offi cers are trained and au- London Bridge and Borough thorised to carry the devices. Market, police with batons were The Met aims to have more the fi rst to try to stop three ter- school meals ditched than 1,000 offi cers on the streets rorists armed with knives who of the capital at any one time stabbed fi ve people to death. It London Evening Standard Grayling said his party did not 2015 had 26 pieces of legisla- “armed” with the stun gun, the took armed police eight minutes London WHAT’S IN.... WHAT’S OUT.... need agreement on May’s legisla- tion, including new counter- Guardian understands. to arrive, locate and kill the at- tive agenda until the fi nal vote on terror measures and an increase Announcing the decision, tackers, which was seen as quick, zMore spending for schools zAxing universal free school the speech on June 27. He said “I’m in free childcare. One MP said: Dick said: “With this uplift, my but left regular offi cers facing a heresa May’s plan to axe zJustice for domestic meals sure we will have a sensible agree- “We’ve had enough surprises. It offi cers will be better equipped lethal threat without the means universal free school violence victims zScrapping winter fuel ment when that time comes.” will be very safe and measured to protect the public and them- to properly defend themselves or Tmeals for four- to seven- zFairer mental health subsidy But he ramped up the pres- Queen’s Speech.” selves. We know that the mere others. year-olds has been dumped policies zPensions shake-up sure on the Unionists, telling Sources said the manifesto had presence of a Taser is often Taser electronic weapons are from the Queen’s Speech. Brussels trade laws moved zUsing homes to pay for the BBC that another election essentially been ripped up after enough to defuse a dangerous controversial because they have Campaigners, including to UK social care risked making Labour leader the party lost its majority in the situation and often get a suspect been linked to a number of in- parents, teachers, Tory back- zCommitment to phase two zFracking Jeremy Corbyn prime minister. general election. Pension reforms, to drop their weapon if they’re cidents where deaths occurred. benchers and chef Jamie Oliver, of HS2 zFox hunting He said: “Talks are going on but capping energy bills, means test- armed.” The weapons deliver a 50,000- had been outraged by the cost- one thing I’m absolutely certain ing winter fuel payments and the To justify the decision, the volt shock to incapacitate a sus- saving proposal, describing it as about is the DUP don’t want to proposed expansion of the do- Met cites figures showing knife pect and critics say they are too “robbing the most vulnerable”. and change the Children & Fam- and improving the health of the see another election and Cor- mestic shale gas industry are also crime offences have risen by often lethal. After May lost her majority in ilies Act. It’s just not doable with nation. byn in Downing Street.” potentially off the agenda. 24% in the past year. Attacks It was used to stop an attacker the election it has now been axed the parliamentary arithmetic.” The decision came as a sen- Tories have been told to pre- Deeply unpopular social on officers have also increased, who stabbed passersby at Ley- from the government’s legisla- Head teacher Emyr Fairburn, ior cabinet fi gure conceded the pare for a Queen’s Speech about care proposals — dubbed the from 2,211 in 2014 to 2,676 in tonstone tube station in 2015. In tive agenda, which is due to be of King’s Cross Academy — a government was unlikely to a third of the size of the one dementia tax — will be aban- 2016. 2015 the Police Federation called unveiled in Parliament today. leading school in the campaign strike a deal with the Demo- originally planned by May, now doned, although Tories are still The Met also says the mere for every frontline offi cer in A government source said: “It against the proposals — said the cratic Unionist Party before the she is leading a minority gov- bracing themselves for changes threat of using the electronic England and Wales to be off ered would have involved going back lunches were having a positive Queen’s Speech today. ernment reliant on the DUP. and a consultation into how weapon brings compliance in a Taser electronic weapon. to the House of Commons to try impact on children’s learning Transport Secretary Chris David Cameron’s speech in elderly care is funded. Woman jailed over plot Two drown as temperatures soar to kill police offi cers the hot spell breaks in thundery Guardian News and Media London downpours in many parts of Agencies though the bombs did deto- from Meole Brace in Shrews- the south, and fresher weather Belfast nate. She also threw two home- bury, played a key part in the spreads across the country on made grenades at police 12 days attack. He had been due to emperatures in much of Friday. later, injuring one policeman. stand trial, but killed himself. Britain soared more than After a sticky night for much woman described as a She pleaded guilty to six Zachary Gevelinger, an T30C (86F) yesterday – of the south, where the overnight lone-wolf dissident re- charges, including attempted American, was arrested by po- and possibly even higher today temperature never fell below 19C A publican, has been jailed murder. The Police Service of lice after he visited Christine – as the country enjoys its long- – “which would more usually be for 16 years and four months Northern Ireland said Connor in Hydebank Prison on July 6, est continuous spell of high June a June daytime temperature”, a for attempting to murder police was “not aligned” to any dissi- 2013. temperatures since 1995. Met Offi ce spokeswoman said – officers. dent republican organisations Detective superintendent However, two people have many will have envied the touch Christine Connor, 31, posed and acted alone. Campbell said police found drowned in the last 48 hours of of frost reported in parts of the as a Swedish model online to Speaking after she was sen- correspondence and cheques the heatwave, as crowds headed Scottish Highlands. lure men into helping her plot tenced, police said Connor that he had sent Connor. He, for beaches, pools and rivers. Frances O’Grady, the general to kill police officers. was “a dangerous woman who also, took his own life. A teenager drowned on Mon- secretary of the TUC, called on She pleaded guilty to a exploited others to further her “We know she communicat- day evening while swimming at employers to relax workplace number of terror offences last own twisted ideologies”. ed with these men via a ‘United Greenbooth reservoir in Roch- dress codes. “Obviously shorts month. Detective superintendent Struggle’ Facebook page she dale, despite the eff orts of his and fl ip-fl ops won’t be the right Three of the charges re- Richard Campbell said: “She created - for her one member friends who dived repeatedly to attire for all workers, but no one lated to a homemade grenade was very cunning and duped organisation,” said Campbell. try to bring him back to the sur- should be made to suff er unnec- thrown at a police vehicle in a number of men through fake “Neither of these men, face. essarily in the heat for the sake of May 2013. profile images on social media who are now both deceased, At West Wittering beach in appearances,” she said. She had previously claimed to become involved in her ter- had previous connections to West Sussex, the emergency In winter there are legal mini- to be “at war” with the PSNI. rorist aspirations.” Northern Ireland or to North- services were called on Monday mum workplace temperatures, Belfast Crown Court had The detective said Connor ern Ireland related terrorism.” afternoon when a woman got but the TUC is proposing new heard that Connor, from north used online photographs of He said Connor planned her into distress while swimming. regulations regarding maximum Belfast, twice lured police pa- Swedish model, fashion de- attack in a meticulous way and She was dead when she was workplace temperatures trols to a house in the Crumlin signer and blogger Sanne Al- used a “web of deceit” to enlist pulled from the water. The long run of very hot days Road area of the city in May exandra Andersson without her the help of Downes. Maximum temperatures and sweltering nights is unusual 2013 by claiming that a woman knowledge or consent. These A police officer who was in- yesterday matched Monday’s so early in the summer, but this living there was in danger. bore no resemblance to Chris- jured when one of Connor’s 32.5C at Hampton Water- week’s temperatures are unlikely In the first attack, on May tine. grenades landed at his feet said A man rests in a park during a lunch break on a sunny day in works, west of London, and to topple the hottest June ever – 16, no officer was injured, al- He said Stuart Downes, 31, he felt “lucky to be alive”. central London yesterday. today it could hit 33C, before in 1976, when it was 35.6C. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 15 EUROPE EU states spar over hosting London-based agencies

Reuters mension, we are committed to which together employ more The EU’s executive European several of the most eligible sites. EU leaders meeting for a sum- Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Luxembourg ensuring a successful outcome than 1,000 people. Commission will propose a set of The Netherlands also had res- mit in Brussels tomorrow are due Vienna, Lyon and Strasbourg are and hence the unity among the Germany and Ireland are criteria to choose the new loca- ervations, diplomats said. to fi nalise the process and mem- among the cities wanting the EU 27 remains our priority,” said among states to have already said tions, including logistical sup- “This is a diffi cult discussion ber states will have until the end EBA, whose 160 London-based U states locked horns yes- Malta’s Helena Dalli, who chaired they will apply to host both bod- port, infrastructure, and access because for the fi rst time since of July to propose cities. employees write and co-ordinate terday over moving the a meeting of EU ministers on the ies, though diplomats say both to the labour market and medical the Brexit decision, this theme is A fi nal decision is expected in banking rules across the bloc. Ebloc’s London-based regu- issue. will not go to one single country. care for the employees’ relatives. actually dividing the 27 whereas October after the EU states vote, “The agencies are really a lators for banking and drugs af- But the ministers, meeting in The newer member states in Eastern bloc members say so far our strength in facing Brex- fi rst on the medical, then on the joke,” one senior EU offi cial said ter Brexit, a test of unity for the Luxembourg, failed to agree on former communist eastern Eu- these criteria favour the wealth- it has been in our unity,” one sen- banking authority. of the relatively small budgets at 27 remaining members, most of procedure for choosing the new rope, which have joined since ier west. ior EU diplomat said. “Eventually Barcelona, Milan, Copenhagen stake for national governments. which have expressed interest in sites for the European Banking 2004, complain that they host Italy withheld its consent yes- it will be a political decision with and Dublin have all started cam- “They don’t matter themselves hosting them. Authority (EBA) and the Euro- fewer common EU bodies and terday, saying the Commission a lot of horse-trading behind the paigning to host the EMA, which but the stakes are high because “Despite the high political di- pean Medicines Agency (EMA), want this disparity addressed. should go further and shortlist scenes.” has an annual budget of $360mn. it’s about the unity of the 27.”

Champs Elysees attacker Portugal seeks answers was on French as killer forest fi re rages watchlist AFP thought that the road was safe Details were emerging of the Pedrógão Grande, Portugal but it wasn’t,” said Maria de Fa- victims, many of whom were tima. “We couldn’t see anything, caught in their cars as they tried Reuters we couldn’t even see the road, to fl ee. Paris ortugal’s prime minister just the fl ames and the pine trees They included a four-year-old led calls yesterday to fi nd falling on the road.” boy, Rodrigo. Pout why a highway now Costa also sought explana- His parents had left with him man who rammed a car dubbed the “road of death” – tions into why the emergency with relatives while on honey- into a police van in Paris where most of the 64 victims of services communications net- moon and posted frantic mes- Astored a cache of weap- a giant forest fi re perished – had work had been interrupted amid sages on social media. ons at his home and held a gun not been blocked off , as ques- media reports that the scorching The bodies of Rodrigo and his permit despite being on a secret tions mounted over the disaster heat had damaged antennae. uncle were found burnt beside a service list of people linked to management response. The blaze around Pedrogao car. radical Islam, police sources and More than 1,000 fi refi ghters Grande was expected to be under Yesterday 1,150 fi refi ghters French offi cials said yesterday. were still battling to control the control shortly, civil protection and nearly 400 vehicles were still A judicial source said investi- fl ames which broke out in the chief Vitor Vaz Pinto said yester- battling the fi res, helped from the gators were compiling an inven- central Pedrogao Grande region day. air by water-bombing planes in- tory of the arms and equipment at the weekend and spread at As water-bombing planes cluding some sent from France, found in the 31-year-old’s home. breakneck speed to neighbour- made regular passes over the Italy and Spain. The man, who died in the at- ing areas. fl ames, there were growing sug- Press reports suggested the fi re tack, was also carrying in his car A water bomber crashed near gestions that forestry practices plan had not been revised for four an assault rifl e, two pistols, am- the village of Ouzenda while and outdated emergency plan- years and that there had been munition and two large gas can- fi ghting the blaze, a spokesman ning might have contributed to communications problems while isters when he rammed a police for the civil protection service the disaster. trying to contain the blaze. convoy on Monday. told AFP. Some people in the hamlets Portugal’s Publico newspaper Prime Minister Edouard He was unable to give further scattered through the rural re- reported that while the fi re plan Philippe said the individual fi rst immediate details about the in- gion were unhappy with the re- was meant to be revised every received a permit to possess a cident. sponse of the emergency serv- two years, lawmakers had not gun before he was fl agged to in- Spain, France and Italy have ices. considered it a priority in recent telligence agencies as a potential sent a total of 11 water bombers Father Jose Gomes, the priest years. militant threat. to help the operation. in Figueiro dos Vinhos, told AFP Climate change expert Joao At the time there was no rea- Prime Minister Antonio Costa that some locals had “lacked the Camargo pointed to the industri- son to deny him the permit, sought “immediate explana- support of the fi refi ghters, and al-scale planting of eucalyptus, Philippe said. tions” why the national 236 sometimes even water”. which is highly infl ammable, in Philippe said it was “quite highway “had not been closed to “There is a spirit of revolt to- comments to Publico. possible” the licence was active traffi c” and why it had been sig- wards the emergency services,” “These last decades, we have at the time the attacker was on a nalled by gendarmes as an alter- he said. seen a rise in the frequency of security watchlist. native route after a nearby road Pensioner Jose Antonio Jesus forest fi res” in Portugal, more Three sources close to the in- had been sealed off , according to Marques said he had been told on than in Mediterranean countries, vestigation confi rmed it was. the Lusa national news agency. Saturday that the fi re was about he said. “Nobody can be happy, and Forty-seven of the 64 forest 8km away from his home in Car- The emptying out of the coun- certainly not me, that someone fi re victims died on the N236 reira. tryside as people leave for more who has been fl agged to security which has been branded the “I went to see it and in fi ve urban areas also meant that there agencies can continue to ben- “road of death” or the “road of minutes the fi re was about 800m were fewer people to clear the efi t from such an authorisation,” hell” by the local media. from my house,” the 66-year-old brush that has fed the fi res. Philippe told BFM TV. Thirty of them burned to death said. “This can’t be nobody’s fault,” The man was placed on in their cars, trapped by the “The police came and that’s said Helder Amaral of the right- France’s so called “Fiche S” fl ames. the only thing we saw. Not a wing opposition People’s Party watchlist after he was found A survivor told Portuguese single fi refi ghter,” he said in the in a Facebook post. to belong to a radical Islamist television that gendarmes had courtyard of his home, which “It is not enough for the presi- movement, two police sources directed them to take the N236 he managed to save by throw- dent of the republic to kiss it bet- said. as an alternative to the nearby ing buckets of water at the ap- ter. Saying there is nothing to be Individuals on the list are IC8 route which had been closed proaching fl ames which ravaged done is not enough,” he said. placed under surveillance and which the gendarmes used the eucalyptus trees nearby. Nearly 26,000 hectares (over though the intensity of that sur- themselves. Another 157 people were listed 64,000 acres) of forest have al- veillance varies depending on “When we arrived at the IC8, as injured, including seven peo- ready been destroyed by the fi res, the perceived threat the indi- they told us we couldn’t pass and ple in serious condition, one of according to the European Forest vidual poses. A firefighter walks close to a wildfire in Carvalho, next to Pampilhosa da Serra, Portugal. directed us towards the N236. We them a child. Fire Information System. Philippe said draft legisla- tion drawn up in May envisaged changes to allow offi cials who Le Pen’s father calls on her to resign handle gun permits to check if individuals seeking licences are Marine Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen has found the doors of the on a watchlist. party he founded locked in front of him, but used the opportunity to Ministers quit before Macron reshuffl e But refusing permits in such launch yet another attack on his daughter. cases had it drawbacks, he said. The elder Le Pen said he had hoped to be able to attend a meeting of “If you revoke the authorisation the far-right National Front (FN)’s political bureau in virtue of a court AFP liament expenses in the hiring of of someone who is under sur- ruling that overturned the party’s decision in 2015 to strip him of his Paris parliamentary assistants. veillance, they’re going to know position of honorary president. The minister, who was a why.” “I was not invited but I am a member by right of party rules which have member of the European Par- On Monday, witnesses saw the been solemnly confirmed by various courts,” the FN founder, expelled wo French ministers liament from 2009 to May this man being pulled from the car as from the party in 2015 for his repeated comments downplaying the have quit their jobs in year, said she could not remain thick yellow smoke poured out. Holocaust, said. Tthe space of 24 hours as in the government while facing Police arrested four of his “I think, all the same, it was Marine Le Pen’s particular soft-heartedness President Emmanuel Macron a possible investigation. close relatives in a raid south of that led her to give me this birthday present,” the elder Le Pen, who reshuffl es his government to Meanwhile, Macron has been Paris late on Monday, a police turned 89 yesterday, said. refl ect his campaign pledge to carrying out a partial reshuffl e source said. The father of Emmanuel Macron’s defeated rival in the presidential race clean up politics. of his month-old government They included his father and told assembled journalists that he thought the entire party leadership In a surprise decision, De- following parliamentary elec- brother. should resign, including his daughter: “The [political] bureau was fence Minister Sylvie Goulard tions on Sunday that handed France has been on high alert responsible for the election campaigns.” announced yesterday that she him and his MoDem allies a after a wave of militant Islamist was resigning over a fake jobs commanding majority. attacks over the past two years, Republicans lawmakers split away scandal that has hit her small Macron’s LREM party This picture taken on May 19 shows Goulard during her visit to Mali. including most recently an at- centrist MoDem party, which crushed its rivals by winning tack on police outside the Notre A third of the conservative Republicans’ party newly elected lawmakers allied with Macron’s party in 308 seats in the 577-seat Na- “This reform agenda must cy to a candidate who had never Dame Cathedral and an Islamic are splitting away from their peers to create their own parliamentary the presidential and legislative tional Assembly and will not take precedence over any per- before stood for elected offi ce. State (IS)-claimed attack on group, one of the lawmakers said, in a further sign of the dynamiting of elections. need the support of MoDem, sonal considerations. That is Bayrou, whom Macron police on the Champs Elysees in France’s political landscape. Macron accepted her resig- which won 42 seats, to get legis- why I have asked the president, named justice minister as a re- April. The self-styled “constructive” group, made of about 40 lawmakers nation and said he “respected” lation through parliament. with the agreement of the prime ward for his support, dismissed In July last year, 86 peo- belonging to the moderate wing of The Republicans, is set to support Goulard’s decision. Goulard had been named to minister, to leave the govern- the claims last week, saying that ple were killed when a truck centrist President Emmanuel Macron on a case-by-case basis, while Her high-profi le departure the defence job only a month ment,” she added. there had “never been” fake jobs ploughed through a crowd in others in the party staunchly oppose him. came after the president on ago following Macron’s election Paris prosecutors opened a among his party’s European Nice, and similar incidents have Parliamentary elections on Sunday gave Macron’s centrist Republic On Monday asked a close ally, Rich- to the presidency. preliminary investigation this Parliament staff . occurred in other European cit- the Move (LREM) party a solid majority. ard Ferrand, to leave his post as She said the possibility of an month into claims in the Canard Macron is set to introduce an ies. The conservative The Republicans are the second-biggest party in minister for territorial cohesion investigation made it impos- Enchaine newspaper that the ethics law after the presiden- Philippe said the government parliament, with 113 lawmakers. for a senior role in their Republic sible for her to stay in the post MoDem party was using Euro- tial candidate of the conserva- would be presenting a draft law on the Move (La Republique en given Macron’s pledge to clean pean parliamentary funds to pay tive Republicans, Francois Fil- soon to toughen counter-terror- Vatican’s first auditor-general resigns Marche, LREM) party. up politics after a series of scan- assistants based in France. lon, was charged with allegedly ism legislation. Ferrand is under investigation dals involving ministers under Marine Le Pen’s far-right Na- paying his wife Penelope and “We need to fi nd legal in- The Vatican’s first auditor general, who was appointed two years over claims he favoured his wife his Socialist predecessor Fran- tional Front (FN) party is facing their children around €900,000 struments that at once guaran- ago in a move aimed at ensuring transparency in the finances at the in a lucrative property deal with cois Hollande. similar accusations. ($1mn) to work for him in parlia- tee that we continue to live in a headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, has resigned, the Vatican a public health insurance fund “The president is committed MoDem leader Francois Bay- ment. Fifth Republic which safeguards said yesterday. when he headed the company. to restoring confi dence in public rou was a key backer of Macron’s The president has banned the freedoms and ensure the secu- A brief statement gave no reason for the resignation of Libero Milone, Goulard’s MoDem party is offi ce, reforming France and re- movement during the presiden- newly elected LREM lawmakers rity of French people,” Philippe saying merely that he had presented it on Monday to Pope Francis and facing a preliminary probe into launching Europe,” Goulard said tial campaign, and his support from employing family mem- said. that the Pontiff had accepted it. claims it misused European Par- in a statement. was crucial in lending legitima- bers. Gulf Times 16 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 INDIA

AVIATION CRIME CONTROVERSY INVESTIGATION CONTROVERSY Cabinet to decide on Woman sexually attacked AAP leaders meet LG Kingpin of oil stealing Decision on cattle sale Air India, says Sinha in car, dumped in UP on party off ice issue racket arrested in W Bengal after court verdict: CM

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant A 35-year-old woman was abducted from Aam Aadmi Party leaders Sanjay Singh and The kingpin of an oil stealing racket was arrested Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami yesterday Sinha yesterday said the NITI Aayog’s Gururgram in Haryana, allegedly gang-raped in Ashutosh yesterday met Delhi Lt Governor Anil from the Kolkata railway station for allegedly said his government will act according to the recommendation on the future of national a moving car and dumped in Greater Noida in Baijal on the issue of party off ice and put forth stealing oil from Indian Oil Corporation pipelines, a people’s wish after courts decide on a central passenger carrier Air India has been Uttar Pradesh yesterday morning, police said. their demand to allow the party to continue its police off icial said yesterday. “Ganesh Jaiswal, one government order banning the sale of cattle for presented to the cabinet which will take a The woman was abducted from near her home operations from its off ice at 206, Deen Dayal of the racket leaders, was arrested on Saturday slaughter. This is the first time Palaniswami has decision. According to Sinha, inter-ministerial around 8.30pm on Monday by three men in a Upadhyay Marg. On June 15, the Public Works night. His gang was involved in stealing oil from come out with the state government’s position consultations on the future of the airline have car. They allegedly raped her in the moving car Department (PWD) imposed a fine of Rs2.7mn on various IOC pipelines across West Bengal,” the on the issue. Responding to Dravida Munnetra been completed and “are being summarised and then threw her out near Yatharth building the party citing unauthorised occupation of the off icial said. The police also seized a 10-wheeler oil Kazhagam members in the state assembly, and presented” to the cabinet. The minister in Kasna in Greater Noida, a senior police off icer party off ice at 206, Rouse Avenue – which has been tanker from Howrah district’s Sankrail industrial Palaniswami said even the central government said several options are available with the said. Local residents yesterday morning noticed renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg. “We have area after interrogating Jaiswal. “The gang used was considering changes in the rules. He said there government. However, the final decision will her lying along a road and alerted the police. The met the LG and requested him that AAP should be to mix the stolen oil in various byproducts and were cases in the Supreme Court and the Madras be taken by the cabinet. In a recent report Uttar Pradesh police later took the woman to allowed to use the off ice and the fine imposed on then sell to vendors,” the off icial said. “We had High Court against the order. The chief minister to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the NITI Aayog Gurugram to verify the sequence of events. Senior the party is illegal,” Singh told reporters after the earlier arrested another person of this gang.” said his government would take appropriate steps recommended strategic disinvestment in the Superintendent of Police Luv Kumar said although meeting. He said Baijal asked him to submit his However, the off icial refused to comment on once the courts delivered their ruling. Palaniswami loss-making Air India, by which government she sustained some abrasions on her body, they concerns and demands regarding party off ice “in Jaiswal’s alleged political connections with the also said the government would act taking into control would be transferred to a private owner. were awaiting a final medical examination. written” and then “he will look into the matter”. state’s Bharatiya Janata Party leadership. account the wishes of the majority of the people.

Students of ISB get No excuse for Rs2.2mn job off ers fi rms not to IANS Hyderabad

tudents of the Indian School of Business (ISB) Shere have got over 1,113 job off ers in campus recruitments be ready for this year with an average salary of around Rs2.2mn. Over 400 domestic and in- ternational companies made the off ers to 903 students of the ISB’s fl agship Post Graduate Pro- gramme in Management (PGP). GST: Jaitley The premier business school, which has campuses in Hyderabad Agencies „6.5mn fi rms already registered for new tax regime and Mohali, this year witnessed New Delhi an increased demand for leader- „GST to bring down barriers between more than 30 ship roles from government think tanks, public and private sectors. mall business has been states and territories, unifying $2tn economy It witnessed a 39% increase in the given enough time to pre- „Improved tax collection will cause revenues to number of recruiters participating Spare for the July 1 rollout of grow, says minister in the placements season. a new national Goods and Serv- Consulting and IT/ITeS sec- ices Tax (GST), Finance Minister tors continued to be the largest Arun Jaitley said yesterday, rul- co-ordination panel agreed on Jaitley said he anticipated, recruiting sectors constituting ing out any further slippage in Sunday to allow companies to fi le over the medium and the long 20% and 21% respectively of the the timeline. simplifi ed, aggregate tax returns term, that improved tax collec- total number of off ers. Jaitley, addressing a news in July and August before they tion under the GST would cause Besides the regular recruit- conference, said there would be have to comply fully with the revenues to grow, and the spend- ers such as McKinsey & Co, BCG, initial challenges after launch- GST from September. ing capacity of federal and state Parthenon, AT Kearney, Apple, ing the tax, which will require Any company generating a governments would increase. Microsoft, Citibank, Novartis, all but the smallest businesses to large number of invoices will “Consequently, it should have Siemens, Amazon, Cognizant and fi le three detailed returns online need to adopt special software a positive impact on the GDP,” Hindustan Unilever Ltd, there every month. packages that enable them to said Jaitley. were several new companies such But, with 6.5mn fi rms already format and reconcile invoices, “The size of the formal econo- as Jones Lang LaSalle, Havells, Re- registered for GST and more ex- then upload them to the GST my should also increase.” vigo, P&G, Lendingkart, Reliance pected to sign up, there was no Network, an IT system that will The GST will be launched at Jio, Mindtree Consulting, L’Oreal, excuse for fi rms not to be ready process up to 5bn invoices a the midnight of June 30 in the Bain & Co and Roland Berger. for what has been billed as the month. Central Hall of Parliament in an Among the international biggest tax reform in India’s 70- If companies struggle to com- hour-long event that will evoke companies, Cargill, Apple, Coty year history. ply, that could block the fl ow of memories of the “Tryst with Inc, Landmark Group, Baycur- A decade in the making, the input tax credits that are a new Destiny” moment of 1947. rent and Credit Access Asia were GST would bring down barriers feature of the tax, experts and President Pranab Mukherjee, among those who recruited for between more than 30 states and business groups say. Vice President Hamid Ansari, the fi rst time at the ISB. territories, unifying India’s $2tn This would force fi rms to pay Prime Minister Narendra Modi For the second consecutive year, economy and 1.3bn people into a tax on the full cost of an item and former prime ministers the Andhra Pradesh government single market. rather than just value added, ty- Manmohan Singh and H D Deve participated in the recruitment The government says it will ing up working capital and cut- Gowda will be among those who with 21 off ers. ISB students were boost both commerce and state ting into profi ts. will attend the special event, the preferred choice for several revenues. Jaitley said he expected there Jaitley said. public advocacy and strategy roles. “We have been saying for the to be “some challenges” in the On the midnight of August 14- For the fi rst time, they were last six months it would be July 1 short-term after the launch, but 15, the country ushered in Inde- chosen for the roles of executive – nobody has any business not to he dismissed concerns that reg- pendence from British rule with assistants to district magistrates be ready,” Jaitley told reporters. istering for and complying with a special function in the Central at select districts in the state. “If he’s still not ready, then the GST would be too hard. Hall in which the fi rst prime min- Other roles off ered were in the I’m afraid he does not want to be “Industry and trade have to ister, Jawaharlal Nehru, made his areas of fi n-tech, textiles, tour- Traders shout slogans as they burn an eff igy representing a tax worker during a protest against GST ready.” prepare themselves. It’s not a now famous speech “Tryst with ism, and infrastructure. rates in New Delhi yesterday. To ease the transition, a GST complicated process,” he said. Destiny”. Farming crisis needs more than loan waivers n early 1994, we, my wife darkened the skies. Remember Modi will send the money from of loan waivers continues, in the have been the dream of anyone and I that is, had bought a this was 1994. And this practice of Delhi, he has to think again. Modi’s coming weeks and months as involved in the business of sell- Ismall plot of land in the Del- skilled and unskilled labour leav- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has much as Rs2tn in loans could be ing goods abroad. Modi, who has hi suburb of Gurgaon to build ing cities and heading for their Delhi Diary since announced that all farm loan set aside by states whose ruling been tom-tomming his corrup- our house. After talking to a few homes in villages had been going waivers would have to be met by parties are competing to win over tion-free government, still has friends, we zeroed in on our ar- on for years and decades before By A K B Krishnan the respective states themselves. the farmers. This is especially a lot to do on this front. Farmers chitect, Ganapati, who had done that. It is 2017 now but there is This will be one poll promise that true of states like Rajasthan, can also be helped indirectly by several projects in the area. little change to this pattern. Gulf Times Correspondent could haunt Modi. Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh imposing higher duties on import While discussing the plan and Come the monsoons, much of Jaitley’s threat notwithstand- that go to polls in the next 12 to of food products as is being done drawings for the house, Gana- the labourers will return to their ing, more states are queuing up to 15 months. All are frontline states in the case of several industries pati kept telling me that we must villages to sow and reap. still continue to cultivate. The Party. The left parties have often waive farmer loans. After weeks of and both the BJP and the Con- like steel, fl oat-glass, etc. quickly start the work as oth- This week’s subject is not con- reasons for this incongruity are mouthed support for the farm- protests, which witnessed thou- gress have high stakes in each one When cattle markets were erwise the workers – masons, struction of my house, or any many. Some feel sentimental to- ers’ cause but since they still have sands of gallons of milk being of them. Experts say such mas- banned from providing platforms carpenters, casual labour, et al other building for that matter, wards the land, small though it problems adjusting to democracy poured on to the roads of Thane, sive loan waivers could result in for slaughter animals, the Modi – will go away to their respective but the agrarian crisis that has may be, handed down to them by itself – their inspiration coming Pune and other cities in the state, state-level defi cits of nearly 4% government argued that the villages ahead of the mid-year gripped India over the past few their forefathers and say it is their mostly from China or the erst- Maharashtra announced loan of the gross national product move was to prevent middle-men monsoon rains. Being new to the months leading to farmer suicides duty to work the fi elds. Others while Soviet Union, both not ex- waiver that will cost the state a (GDP), setting back any develop- from indulging in profi teering. area, as also new to the dynamic and protests across several states. see farming as their chosen vo- actly paradigms of democratic tidy Rs250bn. The latest to join the ment plans that they may have. But farmers who cultivate rice- of civil construction, I asked him I must clarify here that when I say cation because it brings food se- values – these parties fall by the queue was Punjab Chief Minister But then who cares as long as paddy, wheat, pulses and vegeta- why. “Soon it will be the sowing agrarian crisis, it is not as if the curity to their homes. Still others wayside when it comes to winning Amarinder Singh who announced elections are won? bles continue to be dependent on season and most of these peo- country is facing a famine situa- know nothing else to do except elections and are now confi ned to that loans up to Rs200,000 of Loan waivers are like post-op- middle-men and the government ple either have small farm lands tion. In fact, the opposite is true. farming. All of them though hope two small states that don’t have 1.25mn farmers would be waived. erative pain-killers. They don’t seems to have given no thought in their villages or have relatives The crisis is the direct result of too for some profi t but the majority many farmers or much farmland. Almost certainly Madhya Pradesh, cure the disease and their eff ect to it. While farming itself calls owning lands. They will go to much produce, a bumper crop in of them invariably end up losing. The Bharatiya Janata Party where seven people were killed in will wear out. Farmers will take for protective measures from the tend to their crops and will return almost every fi eld. The latest con- Needless to say they are depend- (BJP), generally known as a party police fi ring during farmer agita- more loans the next season and government, the farmer and his only three-four months later. If sumer price index is the lowest in ent on loan sharks to buy seeds of and for ‘Brahmins and Baniyas’, tions, will be next in line. Farmers the season after that and the cycle family too require care and com- we can fi nish the foundation and fi ve years as food prices fell nearly and manure at the time of sowing upper caste Hindus and the mer- from Tamil Nadu had travelled all will only get more and more vi- fort extended to them by way of basement structure before then, 2%. The crisis also does not aff ect and hire vehicles to move their chant/trader class, also had not the way to the national capital to cious. Political and administrative healthcare, educational facilities, we can wait out their absence. the rich landlords who own large eventual produce to the markets. addressed farmers’ issues serious- stage dramatic protests, included foresight is the need of the hour to better rural connectivity and un- The foundation would settle by tracts of farmland and have other Although several slogans have ly. It was sheer political opportun- shaving off their heads and eat- prevent this sort of unsustainable interrupted power. then,” Ganapati explained. sources of income but small and been coined in the name of the ism on the part of Prime Minister ing rats. Neighbouring Karnataka scenario. Institutional fi nancing All this cannot be achieved in a So we worked overtime fi nalis- marginal farmers, the likes of who farmer from the time of Jawaha- Narendra Modi to announce loan also witnessed violent protests by of farming coupled with new- year or two. It may well take a dec- ing the plans, getting the required have been seasonally migrating to rlal Nehru onwards, the fact that waiver for farmers of Uttar Pradesh farmers because of water shortage. age farming methods and agro- ade or more, but a beginning has to approvals from the local govern- and from cities for ages. farmers and farm labourers have during the election campaign in One report said more than processing could make a positive be made now. Is the government ment, engaging the contractor Most of these farmers don’t to shift to cities looking for daily the state earlier this year. UP Chief half of agricultural households start. The governments at both up to it or is it only concerned and mobilising the construc- make any profi t from their toil wages for the better part of the Minister Yogi Adityanath, who in India had outstanding loans, the federal and state levels should about winning the next election tion material. Work did start as because prices of grain, cereals, year is proof enough that noth- was foisted on the state, simply Andhra Pradesh leading the way give priority in building mas- and, therefore, waiving off loans? planned, but the workers, like Ga- fruits, vegetables and everything ing much has been accomplished followed Modi’s directives and with 93% of farming families in sive storage facilities for all types Empirical evidence suggests the napati had predicted, packed up else that is edible and grows on by successive governments, most pardoned farm loans to the tune of debt ranging from Rs30,000 to of foods. Better export facilities latter. What I witnessed in 1994 and left just as the fi rst rain clouds ground have crashed. But they of them led by the Congress Rs363bn. But if the Yogi thought Rs290,000. If the present trend with zero corruption at the ports could go on forever. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 17 INDIA ‘Kovind had opposed quota for Christians, Muslims’

IANS sion of Muslim and Christian ing issue then as the National Castes category will be uncon- ally backward and said it was a “Their special interest is not mented, it would “weaken the New Delhi converts among the Scheduled Commission on Religious and stitutional,” the lawyer-turned- “very well known” fact that they in getting reservations in gov- Hindu religion”. Castes, be “scrapped” and called Linguistic Minorities, headed politician had said. get better education in convent ernment jobs, they want Sched- “Granting Scheduled Castes the move “unconstitutional”. by Justice Misra, a former Chief Dalit quota privilege in the schools. uled Castes category reservation status to those belonging to mi- Islam and Christian- Asked then by an IANS corre- Justice of India, had in a report country is presently only for “The educational level of to contest elections from village nority communities will encour- ity are alien” to India, the spondent how Sikh Dalits could recommended that backward Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. Scheduled Castes children re- panchayats to the Lok Sabha. age conversion and weaken the “Bharatiya Janata Party’s enjoy the quota privilege in the Muslim and Christian converts And the then Congress-led mains much lower than that of As they know, they cannot be Hindu religion. There is also no presidential candidate Ram same category, he responded: be accorded Scheduled Castes government had fl irted with convert Muslims. The children eligible to contest elections on such provision in the Constitu- Nath Kovind said seven years “Islam and Christianity are alien status and given a quota. the idea of extending the res- of converts will grab a major reserved seats under backward tion,” Gehlot said. ago when he was appointed a to the nation.” Kovind, a Rashtriya Swayam- ervation to Dalit Christians and share of reservation in govern- class reservation,” he said. Kovind, a two-term mem- party spokesperson. A Supreme Court ruling on sevak Sangh loyalist who worked Muslims under the Scheduled ment jobs. They would become The BJP government has al- ber of the Rajya Sabha, was on Kovind addressed a press March 25 that year had upheld for the Scheduled Castes and Castes category. But this trig- eligible to contest elections on ready made its mind obvious Monday named by BJP President conference at the party head- the Andhra Pradesh govern- Scheduled Tribes, said the Misra gered a vociferous opposition seats reserved for Scheduled about the Misra panel report Amit Shah as its candidate to quarters here on March 26, 2010, ment’s decision to allow 4% job Commission recommendations from the BJP. Castes. This would encourage with Minister for Social Jus- become the 14th president of In- demanding that the Justice quota for backward Muslims. were not possible to implement. Kovind also did not agree conversion and fatally destroy tice and Empowerment Tha- dia. He served as the chief of the Ranganath Misra Commission, The proposed reservation for “Including Muslims and that Dalit Christians and Mus- the fabric of the Indian society,” war Chand Gehlot saying if its BJP’s Scheduled Castes Morcha which had recommended inclu- backward Muslims was a burn- Christians in the Scheduled lim converts were education- he had said. recommendations were imple- from 1998 to 2002. Punjab govt PM to discuss visa issue to forgive over $1.5bn with Trump: offi cial Reuters in farm debts New Delhi rime Minister Narendra Modi will take up the is- Agencies ter Arun Jaitley ruled out central Psue of visas for skilled Chandigarh funding for any state’s farm loan workers when he meets US waiver, and said the government President Donald Trump next has to meet its fi scal defi cit target. week in Washington, a senior he northern state of Pun- “We have got Fiscal Respon- Indian offi cial said yesterday. jab will waive more than sibility and Budget Management Trump has ordered a review T$1.5bn in loans to farmers, (FRBM) Act and fi scal defi cit tar- of the US visa programme for becoming the third state to do so get, we intend adhering to it,” the bringing high-skilled foreign in response to growing rural dis- minister told reporters during a workers into the United States, tress caused by food oversupply press briefi ng when asked about putting technology fi rms and and weak prices. the farmers’ agitation demanding the outsourcing companies that India is carrying a huge in- farm loan waiver in various states. serve them on notice of possible ventory of food grains from last The FRBM committee has set changes ahead. year’s record harvest, while ex- a 3.2% fi scal defi cit target for the The review threatens Indian ports have been hit by an ap- current year. IT services fi rm such as Infosys preciating rupee, falling global Jaitley’s response comes af- Ltd and Tata Consultancy Serv- prices and restrictions on over- ter Punjab announced farm loan ices which advise large com- seas shipments. waiver following Uttar Pradesh panies on tech issues and carry Punjab will waive loans to and Maharashtra. out a range of tasks for them, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow yesterday. During his 40-minute stay at the institute, farmers with holdings of up Madhya Pradesh has been relying heavily on the H-1B visa Modi toured its two laboratories and expressed keen interest in the research work. to 5 acres and debts of up to witnessing widespread protests programme. Rs200,000 ($3,100), state Fi- by farmers demanding loan “The H-1B visa issue will be month, 18 members of Congress access to the latest medical nance Minister Manpreet Singh waiver and remunerative prices one of the issues on the table O Modi to meet president in Washington on June 26 said they were “troubled” by the advances if companies backed Badal said. for their produce. during the PM’s visit,” Trade Sec- O Trade official says visa one of the issues on the table price cap, warning that it could away from India’s $5bn medi- About 975,000 farmers will be The number of farmer suicides retary Rita Teaotia told reporters. O Trump’s review of US visa programme seen hurting deter fi rms from launching new cal-technology market. completely debt-free after the in the state has gone up to 10. Modi will meet Trump in Indian firms medical products in India. “The sudden and unprec- scheme is implemented. On June 6, fi ve farmers were Washington on June 26. O Trump investigating trade deficit with India Modi’s government has in edented nature of the decision Punjab, a major producer of killed in police fi ring while an- The fi rst meeting between recent years capped prices of threatens citizens’ access to wheat and rice, will settle farmers’ other died of his injuries later in them is expected to lay the hundreds of life-saving drugs to the newest and most innovative debts to the banks through annual Mandsaur district. ground for a further expansion the Trump administration has doubled to about $115bn in 2016 make them more aff ordable. medical technologies and raises budget provisions, he said. Jaitley had earlier said that in ties, which grew rapidly un- launched an investigation of from $45.1bn in 2006. And in February, it imposed a strong concerns about the busi- “Every year we will make a the states which want to go for der former US president Barack countries including India with However, the US trade defi cit 75% price cut for certain heart ness environment in India,” provision of about Rs20-30bn in these kinds of schemes will have Obama. which the United States runs a with India also widened. The stents - wire mesh tubes used to they said in the May 22 letter. the budget to pay to the banks, so to generate them from their own However, Trump’s focus on bilateral trade defi cit. trade shortfall was $30.8bn in treat blocked arteries. The Indian embassy in Wash- that the entire loan is paid in fi ve resources. building ties with China, cou- Teaotia said the government 2016, up from $12.7bn in 2006. The government justifi ed its ington did not respond to a re- years,” Badal said. Earlier Maharashtra and Uttar pled with his protectionist trade would try to convince Wash- Meanwhile, a group of US action by citing “huge unethical quest for comment. Reserve Bank of India Gover- Pradesh, ruled by the BJP, agreed policies and his characterisa- ington that higher exports from lawmakers has backed medical markups”. The US Department of Com- nor Urjit Patel has warned that to forgive billions of rupees in tion of India as an unscrupulous India were a win-win for both device makers by urging India But global medical device merce is likely to raise the issue such loan waivers - forecast farm loans. negotiator in the Paris climate countries as they helped Amer- to reconsider its decision to cap makers have protested the new with Modi during his visit, ac- by BofA Merrill Lynch to reach Punjab is one of a handful states change agreement have raised ican companies cut costs and prices of heart stents, raising cap, with some saying it would cording to an industry source $40bn - would weaken already- ruled by the Congress Party. concern in New Delhi about a create jobs. the issue ahead of Modi’s visit. force them to sell below cost. aware of the plans. strained state fi nances. Economists at Merrill Lynch drift in relations. The bilateral trade between In a letter sent to the Indian The US lawmakers warned “It’s one of the biggest pain “The economy is not just estimate that states will end up Aside from the visa review, the two countries more than ambassador to Washington last that people would be denied points,” the source said. about state fi nances, we also writing off debts equivalent to have to take care that our farm- 2% of GDP - the bulk of all out- ers do not commit suicide,” standing loans to farmers. 15 held for cheering Pakistan team Badal said, presenting the gov- Raising its concern on state ernment’s maiden budget in the governments waiving off farm Police said yesterday they have arrested celebrating after India lost the match,” state assembly loans, the Reserve Bank of India 15 Muslim villagers and charged them Burhanpur police chief Raja Ram To pay off the loans, Punjab (RBI) had earlier said that such with sedition - punishable by life in Parihar said. is banking on a 14% rise in state actions increase the risk of slip- prison - for celebrating Pakistan’s The accused have also been charged revenues after the July 1 launch pages and contribute to infl ation victory over India’s cricketers in the with criminal conspiracy, the off icer of a new national Goods and sooner or later. Champions Trophy. said, adding the celebrations Services Tax (GST). Unless there is existing fi scal The villagers were arrested in the continued for hours in the sensitive It is also planning to cut some space in the state budgets, the Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh locality. of its capital investments. states should avoid going down on Monday after police received a The village has a large Muslim “The total loan to be absorbed the “slippery path” of farm loan complaint that they set off firecrackers population and a history of by the state would be around Rs- waivers, RBI Governor Urjit Pa- and shouted slogans following communal clashes between the two 80bn-100bn ($1.24bn-1.55bn),” tel had said, adding that it can Pakistan’s dramatic win on Sunday. communities. Passions run high over he said. erode the fi scal gains made over “We received a complaint from a local cricket in India - particularly when it In New Delhi, Finance Minis- the previous 2-3 years. Hindu man who accused them of comes to Pakistan. Modi to lead Yoga Day celebrations today

IANS event, and attended full-dress re- New Delhi/Lucknow hearsals at the spruced up ground. Modi reached Lucknow yesterday afternoon. he stage is set for grand cel- According to private weather fore- ebrations of the third edition caster Accuweather, the sky will be Tof International Yoga Day to- “partly cloudy” and the mercury will day with Prime Minister Narendra hover between 28 and 30 degrees Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Min- Celsius in Lucknow today morning. ister Yogi Adityanath slated to lead The chances of rain are less as pre- thousands of yoga enthusiasts here. cipitation level will go down from The main event of the celebration 28% to 20% from 6am to 8am, but is to be held in Lucknow’s sprawling humidity will be around 80 to 90%. Ramabai Ambedkar Ground under a An ardent advocate of yoga, Modi partly overcast sky. The Met offi ce, during his monthly radio talk “Mann however, has forecast that chances Ki Baat” had asked three genera- of rain are low. tions of the families to do yoga to- People perform yoga during a practice session in Lucknow. Some 51,000 people, including gether on the International Yoga several dignitaries, politicians and Day - observed globally on June 21. Resource Development Ministry di- respectively, Human Resource De- bureaucrats, are expected to take The UN declared it on December 11, recting universities and educational velopment Minister Prakash Java- part in the mass yoga demonstra- 2014, following a resolution moved institutions to ensure elaborate ar- dekar will preside over the celebra- tion in the Uttar Pradesh capital, by India and co-sponsored by a rangements to mark the event. tions in Manipur. where rehearsals have been going on large number of nations. Modi’s ministers will also per- Urban Development Minister for over a month. The fi rst International Yoga Day form yoga across the country. Venkaiah Naidu is scheduled to lead Adityanath and Uttar Pradesh celebration was organised at Raj- While Home Minister Rajnath the event at the national capital Governor Ram Naik inspected the path in New Delhi in 2015. Singh and Road Transport Minister where at least seven main events are overall preparations, including the Yoga day events will also be or- Nitin Gadkari will head the events in being organised by civic bodies and security arrangements for the mega ganised in all states with the Human Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra yoga organisations. Gulf Times 18 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 LATIN AMERICA

Activists, journalists OAS ministers disagree accuse Mexican on Venezuela resolution govt of Reuters “Some states were not pre- Venezuelans decry shortages of spying Cancun pared to sign a statement that food and medicine. there are political problems in Maduro says the protests, Venezuela,” Guyana’s Foreign along with the diplomatic ef- AFP oreign ministers from Minister Carl Greenidge told forts, are part of a plot by the Mexico City across the Americas failed Reuters on the sidelines of the United States to topple him. Fto reach agreement at a meeting. “Venezuela needs an inter- meeting on Monday on a resolu- Mexico and Peru have led the national humanitarian channel group of prominent jour- tion criticising the government push with the United States for that provides drugs and food nalists and activists in of Venezuela, which saw more a resolution that defends rep- to the Venezuelan population,” AMexico has accused the violent protests in its capital as resentative democracy in Ven- OAS secretary general Luis Al- government of spying on them, the discussions deadlocked in ezuela, where President Nicolas magro said. saying that their phones had Mexico. Maduro is accused of leading Almagro called for an elec- been hacked with Israeli spyware Ministers from the 34-nation the Organisation of Petroleum tion timetable in Venezuela, for sold exclusively to the state. Organisation of American States Exporting Countries (Opec) political prisoners to be freed, The group said at a press (OAS) met in Mexico after they member toward dictatorship by an independent judiciary and conference that it has pressed were unable to reach a consen- delaying elections, imprisoning respect for the autonomy of the charges with the attorney gener- sus statement in May on the po- opposition activists, and press- National Assembly legislature. al’s offi ce, accusing the govern- litical and economic crisis rock- ing to overhaul the country’s While Venezuela has said that ment of illegally accessing pri- ing Venezuela. constitution. it was withdrawing from the or- vate communications and other Guatemalan Foreign Minister In Caracas on Monday, Vene- ganisation in protest, Foreign off ences. Carlos Morales, the acting chair zuelan opposition activists bat- Minister Delcy Rodriguez was in The nine plaintiff s at the news of the meeting, suspended a tled security forces at one of the Cancun. event included journalists who session to work out a joint state- largest demonstrations in re- “We don’t recognise this have published embarrassing ment on Venezuela and said that cent weeks after more than two meeting nor do we recognise the exposes on government cor- ministers would resume discus- months of almost daily street resolutions that come from it,” ruption and activists who have sions at a later, unspecifi ed date. clashes. she said. investigated human rights viola- “I do not want our hemisphere OAS chief Almagro addresses the audience during the opening ceremony of the organisation’s 47th “We don’t expect much of the Venezuela’s socialists have tions by the state. to continue breaking apart any- General Assembly in Cancun. international community,” said long enjoyed the support of left- “This is an operation by the more,” Morales said. “We need protester Luis Serran, 22. “We leaning governments in Latin Mexican state, in which state to look for solutions, to continue Mexico, the United States and from some of the socialist oil ex- Eight countries abstained have seen cases like Syria, lots of America loath to back measures agents – far from doing what the dialogue and the only way to other countries had been lobby- porter’s allies. from voting while fi ve rejected talking and not much action.” they see as meddling in a sover- they should legally do – have continue this dialogue is to keep ing OAS member states to adopt Twenty states voted to pass a the draft. At least 72 people have been eign country by an organisation used our resources, our taxes, this session open without a de- a watered-down Venezuela res- draft, but 23 votes were needed Venezuela has said it is leaving killed in two months of violence that they consider an arm of US our money to commit serious terminate date.” olution after seeing resistance to approve the statement. the OAS and did not vote. between protesters and police as foreign policy. abuses,” said journalist Carmen Aristegui. Aristegui, a veteran reporter, is known in Mexico for a 2014 expose revealing that Presi- dent Enrique Pena Nieto’s wife Lawmakers leave had bought a $7mn Mexico City mansion from a government contractor. She said members of her staff ‘bodies’ at army and her 16-year-old son were also targeted. She is among the 76 cases the plaintiff s say they have docu- base in protest mented of high-tech spyware being installed on their phones and those of their families and Reuters “Who gave the order to associates. Caracas shoot?” asked another law- The accusation were fi rst pub- maker Jose Olivares as soldiers lished in a New York Times report watched silently from inside detailing how the software in enezuela opposition law- their base. question, known as Pegasus, was makers placed pretend Venezuelan authorities said used against top human rights Vcoffi ns and body bags at two National Guard members lawyers, journalists and anti- the gates of the National Guard had been detained on Monday corruption activists in Mexico. headquarters yesterday in pro- for what the interior minister “What does the Mexican pres- test after the latest fatality in called “presumed improper and ident have to say today about unrest that has killed at least 75 disproportionate use of force” this treacherous, illegal spying?” people since April. when thousands of protesters Aristegui said. Footage and photos from fl ooded the streets. Pena Nieto’s offi ce responded demonstrations on Monday As well as the fatalities, there with a letter to the editor of the showed at least three members have also been thousands of New York Times. of the National Guard – a mili- injuries and arrests since Ven- “There is no proof whatsoever tary unit with public order re- ezuela’s opposition began its that Mexican government agen- sponsibilities – aiming and fi r- latest street campaign against cies are responsible for the al- ing pistols in clashes on a major President Nicolas Maduro’s so- leged spying,” wrote spokesman Caracas highway. cialist government in early April. Daniel Millan Valencia. Seventeen year-old demon- They accuse Hugo Chavez’s Victims said they received strator Fabian Urbina was shot successor of becoming a dictator text messages with eye-catching in the chest and died, and several and wrecking the once-prosper- news headlines, social media others were injured. ous Organisation of Petroleum Riot police confront protesters posts or even communications “You cannot keep killing Exporting Countries (Opec) along the Francisco Fajardo from the United States embassy people in the street!” opposi- member’s economy, and are de- highway in Caracas. – all of which were fake. tion lawmaker Tomas Guanipa manding a presidential election The messages would prompt shouted, as the group harangued to end his rule. happened to Chavez in 2002. users to click on a link that would National Guard members during President Maduro says that Government supporters, by- secretly install the spyware on the early-morning protest in the “terrorists” and “fascists” are standers and some members their phones. middle-class El Paraiso zone of leading the protests in an eff ort of the security forces have also Pegasus eff ectively turns a Caracas. to topple him by force as briefl y been victims of the violence, target’s cellphone into a pocket with gunshot wounds the most spy, accessing the user’s com- common cause. munications, camera and micro- Many grassroots opposi- phone to enable a highly detailed tion supporters feel intimi- level of surveillance. dated by the daily violence in The spyware is made by a se- cities around Venezuela, where cretive Israeli fi rm called NSO masked youths barricade streets Group, owned by US private and hurl stones and Molotov equity fi rm Francisco Partners cocktails against security forces Management. with tear gas and water cannons. According to the New York There is also some exhaustion Times report, at least three Mex- setting in after 80 days of what ican federal agencies have pur- the opposition denominates chased some $80mn of spyware “resistance”. from NSO Group since 2011. But opposition leaders have The company, which claims vowed to step up tactics shortly it only sells Pegasus to govern- to ramp up the pressure on Ma- ments, says it has an agreement duro. with clients that the software be They are seeking to halt Ma- used only to target terrorists and duro’s plan for July 30 elections criminals. for a special assembly to rewrite In Mexico, alleged targets say Dummies simulating corpses and a cardboard coff in are seen at the the constitution, a move the op- the spying went far beyond that. gates of the Venezuelan National Guard headquarters in Caracas position says is rigged to keep The group includes lawyers during a protest by opposition lawmakers. him in power. Protesters show a bullet cap during a demonstration along the Francisco Fajardo highway in Caracas. who investigated the disappear- ance and suspected massacre of 43 students in 2014 and trans- parency advocate Juan Pardinas, sponsor of a tough new anti- corruption bill. Colombia says ELN rebels holding two Dutch journalists Pardinas, the head of the Mex- ican Institute for Competitive- ness, told the New York Times AFP which unlike the larger Revo- Tarra, a region in the Norte de The government ombuds- confi rmed that “two employees since being launched in 1990 it that his wife had received a text Bogota lutionary Armed Forces of Co- Santander district near the Ven- man’s offi ce demanded on Twit- of the Spoorloos programme are has received more than 1,000 message on her iPhone saying lombia (Farc) is at war with the ezuela border, by presumed ELN ter the “immediate liberation of being held against their will in requests every year for help. that he was having an aff air and government – neither confi rmed rebels, Colombian police said in the two Dutch nationals being Colombia. The ministry is giving President Juan Manuel San- inviting her to click on a link to wo Dutch journalists have nor denied any kidnapping on a statement. held”, and said it would try to this case the highest priority”. tos and the ELN started a peace see proof. been detained in north- Twitter, but said they were look- In May 2016 in the same El help solve the situation. Spoorloos is a programme on dialogue in Quito in February, “We are the new enemies of Teastern Colombia by what ing into the case. Tarra region ELN rebels kid- Police specialists in kidnap- the Kro-Ncrv channel regularly seeking to end more than fi ve the state,” he said. the police suspect are rebels “This morning, reporter Derk napped a Colombian-Spanish ping and extortion headed to the presented by Derk Bolt, which decades of fi ghting. Ana Cristina Ruelas, head of with the National Liberation Johannes Bolt, 62, and his cam- journalist and two Colombian region to try to secure the release seeks to help Dutch people trace The country’s most numerous media rights group Article 19 in Army (ELN), authorities said on eraman Eugenio Ernest Marie TV reporters. of the two men. their biological relatives around rebel group, the Farc, is sched- Mexico, called the alleged spying Monday. Follender, 58, both Dutch na- The reporters were handed In the Netherlands, a Dutch the world. uled to complete its disarma- an attempt to muzzle govern- The leftist guerrilla group – tionals, were stopped” in El over to intermediaries days later. foreign ministry spokeswoman It says on its website that ment by June 27. ment critics. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 19 PAKISTAN

EXHIBITION ADVENTURE VIOLENCE MILITANCY PROJECTS Pakistan to take part in International climbers to Protester killed in street Explosion kills judge, Climate ministry vows to Texworld in New York attempt K2, Broad Peak clashes in Kabul wounds civilians ensure better environment

Thirteen companies from Pakistan will showcase A nine-member international expedition team, Kabul authorities yesterday demolished a sit-in An explosion took place in Jalalabad city, The ministry of climate change in Pakistan has their products at the Texworld fair which will including three women, left for Askoli from camp erected to protest spiralling insecurity, the provincial capital of eastern Nangarhar planned number of new projects to be executed run from July 17 to 19 in New York. Pakistan will Skardu in north of Pakistan yesterday to attempt triggering street clashes that left at least one province of Afghanistan, yesterday, leaving in the fiscal year 2017-18 for ensuring better have direct exhibitors and a national pavilion climbing K2 and Broad Peak in the Karakoram demonstrator dead in the latest bout of violence at least four people dead or wounded. The environment and introducing latest technology organised by the Trade Development Authority range, sources in Baltistan association of to shake the city. Tensions have been high in provincial government said in a statement that in the country. The major project included of Pakistan at the event, which will have country adventure tour operators said. It was the first Kabul since a truck bomb on May 31 killed more the incident took place in the vicinity of the 4th Development of reverse linkages with Marmara pavilions of Turkey, India and Bangladesh as expedition team leaving for Baltoro for climbing than 150 people and wounded hundreds in police district of the city after a magnetic bomb Research Centre, Turkey, Strengthening well. The companies that will represent Pakistan in this season which is a good start, said the the fortified diplomatic quarter, the deadliest planted in the vehicle of a judge went off . The Capacity for Eff ective implementation of the include Kohinoor Mills, MS Collection, association’s general secretary Ayaz Ahmad attack in the Afghan capital since 2001. People statement further added that the judge serving Pakistan Trade Control Wild Fauna and Flora Act, Mahmood Textile Mills, Khadija Industries, Vinco Shigri. The joint expedition is comprised of enraged by rising insecurity had established a with the preliminary court of the anti-corruption off icial sources said. Establishment of Climate Textiles, Artistic Towel Mills, Al- Raheem Textile, climbers from Scotland, China, Norway, Pakistan protest tent near the bombing site, demanding Sher Rahman was killed in the explosion and Change Reporting Unit, National Disaster AHZ Enterprises, Harmain Textile and others. and Nepal, which is led by Vanessa O’Brien. The the resignation of President Ashraf Ghani’s three others were wounded, Afghan Khaama Spatial Data Infrastructure, Implementation of Home Textiles Sourcing is held annually in July expedition team members first will try their luck government. Authorities moved in unannounced Press reported. At least two of his brothers and Human Resource Development Plan (under alongside Texworld USA. for K2 and later will attempt Broad Peak. after midnight yesterday to mow down the tent. another civilian were wounded in the explosion. consideration) were also in future plans. Govt seeks to Stock monitor impose power surcharges

Reuters HIGHLIGHTS Islamabad „ Surcharge would be used for discharging such public service obligations of electricity consumers towards elimination of electricity he government of Paki- poverty stan is seeking powers Tfrom the parliament to „ The government will also get the powers through the parliament impose surcharges on electric- to raise funds for such development projects as may be determined ity consumers and to reduce age in the national electricity plan of members and chairman of the National Electric and Power and „ The bill seeks to reduce the qualification criteria, including maxi- Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to mum age of the members and chairman of Nepra from 65 to 62 years replace existing lot with fresh members of its choice. „ The criteria for experience have been reduced from 15 to 10 This is being done through years for members and from 20 to 15 years for chairman of the A Pakistani stockbroker looks at the latest share prices on a monitor during a trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amendments to Regulation of authority in Karachi yesterday. The benchmark PSX-100 index closed at 44914.44, down 1678.90 points at the end of the day. Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997 commonly known as Under these amendments, security of energy supply. Nepra Act referred to the par- entry 53 from Cabinet Division Secondly, the government liament even though the fi nal has been deleted and new entries will also get the powers through draft had not been cleared by the made under the fi nance ministry the parliament to raise funds for Council of Common Interests for Public Procurement Regula- such development projects as Pakistan’s anti-terror strategy (CCI) — a mandatory require- tory Authority, IT and Telecom may be determined in the na- ment under the Constitution. Ministry for Pakistan Telecom tional electricity plan and which A senior Nepra offi cial ex- Authority, Petroleum Ministry for are aimed at improving provi- plained in a background media Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority sion of electric power services to briefi ng that proposed changes and Power Ministry for Nepra. consumers. runs out of steam, say analysts to the Nepra Act were not shared Interestingly, as the Nepra of- Third, it would also get powers with the regulator for any com- fi cial spoke to the media, the La- to give eff ect to any tariff ration- ments or input while it was also hore High Court suspended this alisation or subsidy manage- Internews When adopted two years ago, and provincial governments as vision and the hands of security not cleared by the CCI. government order and directed ment guidelines as may be issued Islamabad the plan received unprecedent- regards implementing the plan. forces were already full. In fact, he said the Khy- Dr Iram Khan of the Cabinet by the federal government from ed support from across the po- “It is inappropriate to say Highlighting ‘new dangers’ ber Pakhtunkhwa government Division, who signed the order, time to time. litical spectrum, inclusive of that a change in command in on the horizon, he said that had written a protest letter to to appear personally before the Also, the bill seeks to reduce hought to be a perfect the federal and provincial gov- the military has aff ected the there were things which “are the centre, saying the CCI had court on June 30. the qualifi cation criteria, in- strategy to counter- ernments. NAP’s progress. It was slow beyond one’s control”. not cleared such changes, and Under the proposed amend- cluding maximum age of the Tterrorism when unani- However, this does not seem even when General (retd) Ra- Currently, he said, imple- should be withdrawn. ment, a new section 31A has members and chairman of Nepra mously adopted by all stake- to be case at the moment. heel Sharif was the army chief,” menting the NAP was not a pri- The offi cial explained that the been proposed for insertion in from 65 to 62 years. holders two years ago, the Air Marshal (retd) Shahid said Lateef. ority. move appeared to be part of a the existing Nepra law. The offi cial said this clause would National Action Plan (NAP) Lateef said that the NAP ‘has “The government is busy He added political parties larger scheme under which the It says the federal government summarily end tenure of the three appears to have been relegated died’, becoming ‘part of the his- dealing with other issues such had their own issues in connec- government had also silently may, in addition to the tariff de- existing members and chairman of into oblivion. tory’ because of a lack of politi- as the Panama Papers case and tion with the NAP’s implemen- notifi ed the transfer of fi ve regu- termined by the Authority (Ne- Nepra in a few months, leaving be- No meeting has lately been cal interest. the JIT. It seems the govern- tation. latory bodies to line ministries pra), impose a surcharge on such hind only Saifullah Chattha, mem- held in connection with the As is the general trend, he ment has no concern whatsoev- He said PPP-P did not want on June 6 even though three high consumer categories as may be ber from Punjab, to continue for less NAP and stakeholders are clue- said, a lot of enthusiasm is ex- er with the issues like the NAP its full implementation in Sindh courts of the country had sus- notifi ed in the offi cial gazette, to than two years. less about its status, according pressed as the crisis emerges, implementation or the situa- and the PML-N was not grant- pended or stuck down similar be collected by a licencee (distri- The fresh induction process to defence analysts. but with the passage of time the tion in the Gulf,” he said. ing suffi cient powers to the earlier notifi cation of December bution company). would consume some time. The NAP was established by issue is forgotten. The civilian government, he Rangers in Punjab for curbing last year. The bill also envisaged the The criteria for experience the government in January 2015 He said the same had hap- said, was responsible for devel- terrorism. “Such moves are apparently surcharge would be used for have been reduced from 15 to 10 to launch a crackdown against pened with the NAP. oping the national narrative to Pakistan, Mohmand said, aimed at curtailing independ- discharging such public serv- years for members and from 20 terrorists in the country with He said the military estab- counter terrorism and register- could not aff ord to lower its ent role of the regulator through ice obligations of electricity to 15 years for chairman of the particular focus on the north- lishment did a good job by im- ing religious seminaries. “How- guard. “The country must procedural impropriety with consumers towards elimina- authority. western region. plementing NAP’s agenda like ever, unregistered seminaries continue with its contingency mala fi de intension despite op- tion of electricity poverty as The fi rst attempt for transfer It was to be a major co-ordi- carrying out an operation in are functioning even in the fed- plan,” he said. position from various commit- may be determined in the (yet of regulators to line ministry was nated state-led retaliation fol- Karachi and setting up sum- eral capital territory,” he said. According to him, the main tees of the parliament and Sen- to be approved) national elec- withdrawn from CCI meeting in lowing the deadly attack on the mary military courts. Brigadier (retd) Said Nazeer focus of political parties is now ate chairman Raza Rabbani,” he tricity plan, including meas- December when Sindh and KP Army Public School in Pesha- But, he added, there was in- Mohmand said that Pakistan on the upcoming general elec- said. ures which are essential to opposed. war on December 16, 2014. action on the part of federal was facing internal political di- tion. On June 6, the government achieve the goals of economic However, a fresh item Amend- not only transferred again the and social cohesion, envi- ment to the Nepra Act was taken fi ve regulators to line ministries ronmental protection, energy on the agenda at the last moment but also amended Rules of Busi- efficiency, demand manage- without prior notice of the prov- ness, 1973. ment, climate change and the inces. Motorway police have no ‘Selfie’ in the rain capacity to patrol all of CPEC

Internews offi cers had been sent to the by December this year. provide an alternate route to Islamabad federal government for their in- The offi cials said the required ensure the smooth fl ow of traf- duction, but nothing had been funds had already been allocat- fi c on this busy thoroughfare. done in this regard so far. ed in the recently passed budget The NH and MP said that it he National Highways The committee was told that for FY2017-18. faced hardship and was unable and Motorway Police NH and MP has been asked to An offi cial statement, issued to control traffi c on M-9 due to T(NH and MP) of Pakistan appoint the required staff by after the meeting, said that the mess created there by the has expressed its inability to Dec 2017, as CPEC will be fully participants also called for the construction work. police the length of the China- operational by next year,” Paki- swift completion of work on The committee was informed Pakistan Economic Corridor stan Tehreek-i-Insaf CPEC’s western route. that more than 50,000 vehicles (CPEC) with the existing force (PTI) MNA Salim Rehman a The committee was told that ply on this road every day. and resources at its disposal. member of the committee said around 4,000km of new roads Meanwhile, a senior NH and The department revealed after the meeting. had been built under CPEC MP Offi cer said the department that it had insuffi cient man- The NH and MP also de- and after the completion of was facing several problems due power and resources to do the manded more resources, an of- the western route, another to “mismanagement”.He said job during a meeting of Nation- fi ce building and state-of-the- 2,600km would be added to the existing motorway police al Assembly Standing Commit- art equipment to perform their the country’s road network, the force was also performing its tee on Communication, held at duties on the new roads and statement said. duty on new roads, the NH and MP offi ce in Sector CPEC motorways, the MNA According to the offi cial including the Murree Ex- G-13, yesterday. said. statement, committee mem- pressway, Multan-Khanewal The NH and MP informed Officials from the commu- bers directed that new offi cers motorway, Faisalabd-Gojra the meeting that almost dou- nications ministry said the should be inducted and trained motorway and a few new roads ble its existing force would be federal government had ap- by the end of the year. in Balochistan. required to effectively police proved the required budget, The committee also took no- In addition, the department the new and under-construc- posts and new inductions for tice of frequent traffi c jams on has done no work on road safety tion motorways that were part the motorway police, adding the under-construction M-9 measures for the past few years, of CPEC. that a new director had been Hyderabad-Karachi Motorway which has led to a decline in Pakistani visitors take a ‘selfie’ as they sit in a boat on the banks of the Ravi river amid rain in Lahore. It was also informed that a appointed to complete the and directed the Frontier Works awareness of motorway traffi c demand for additional 10,000 process of fresh inductions Organisation the contractor to rules among motorists. Gulf Times 20 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 PHILIPPINES

Police check Troops begin renewed push to for Manila attack plan recapture Marawi by weekend Reuters Manila Reuters Marawi City hilippine police said yes- terday they were check- hilippine aircraft and troops Ping reports that militants launched a renewed push against might be plotting bombs in the Pmilitants in a southern city yes- capital, but they had no confi r- terday and a military spokesman said mation of any plan and the pub- the aim was to clear the area by the lic should not be alarmed by a weekend Eid festival, although there leaked police report on possible was no deadline. attacks. The off ensive came amid worry that Police in Manila have been on rebel reinforcements could arrive in high alert since fighting erupt- the city after Eid al-Fitr, which marks ed last month in Marawi City in the end of the holy month of Ramadan. the south of the predominantly Fighting in Marawi City has entered Christian country between the a fi fth week, and nearly 350 people military and militants linked to have been killed, according to an offi - Islamic State. cial count. “We have no confi rmation Fleeing residents have said they whatsoever of any terror attack have seen scores of bodies in the debris in Manila,” Police Director Oscar of homes destroyed in bombing and Albayalde told ANC television, cross-fi re. responding to concern about a “We are aiming to clear Marawi by leaked police intelligence report the end of Ramadan,” said military warning of bomb attacks that spokesman Brigadier-General Resti- spread on social media. tuto Padilla, as army and police com- He said the leaked report manders met in nearby Cagayan de Oro was genuine but said it con- city to reassess strategy and operations tained raw information that against the militants, who claim alle- was distributed to police units giance to Islamic State. to check and seek verification. But he added: “We are not setting The internal memo, dated June any deadlines knowing the complexity Debris and smoke are seen after an OV-10 Bronco aircraft released a bomb during an air strike, as government forces continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group. 16, said police had informa- of the battle. We are doing our best to tion that members of the Maute expedite the liberation of Marawi at the groups and we hope they will not join expanding our vantage positions,” said group — the Islamic State- soonest time possible.” the fi ght,” Padilla said. Some Muslim Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera, an- linked faction that is fighting in The seizure of Marawi and the residents of Marawi said other groups other military spokesman, although he Marawi — were planning to set dogged fi ght to regain control of it could join the fi ghting after Ramadan. declined to comment on specifi cs. off bombs in the capital. has alarmed Southeast Asian nations Fighting was intense early yesterday “We are moving towards the centre “The content of the memo- which fear Islamic State — on a back- as security forces made a push to drive of gravity,” he added, referring to the randum is meant for valida- foot in Iraq and Syria — is trying to the militants, entrenched in Marawi’s militants’ command and communica- tion and confirmation, it’s not set up a stronghold in the south of the commercial district, south towards a tions centre. meant to scare the public,” Al- Philippines that could threaten the lake on the edge of the city. An army corporal near the front bayalde said, adding that he whole region. Planes fl ew overhead dropping line told Reuters soldiers were tagging had ordered an investigation President Rodrigo Duterte visited bombs while on the ground, automatic houses and buildings that had been into how the document was a school where people who fl ed from gunfi re was sustained with occasional cleared. leaked. Marawi are being housed and apolo- blasts from artillery. “We still have to clear more than He said police were “on top gised for their plight, especially since it Armoured vehicles fi red volleys of 1,000 structures,” he said, add- of the situation” and people was Ramadan. shells while the militants responded ing infantry units were left behind at should not be alarmed. “I will help you, I will rehabili- with gunfi re and rocket-propelled gre- “cleared” areas to prevent militants Financial markets were tate Marawi, it will be a beautiful city nades. from recapturing lost ground. largely unruffled by fears of again,” he said at the school in Iligan Fighting later died down as heavy As of yesterday, the military said 258 violence. City, about 40km from the battle zone. rain fell but had resumed by evening. militants, 65 security personnel and 26 Philippine stocks were down Padilla said the military aimed to Military sources said troops were at- civilians had been killed. Hundreds of marginally while the peso ear- prevent the confl ict from escalating tacking the militants from three sides people are unaccounted for, with many lier touched a one-month low, after Ramadan ends. and trying to box them towards the believed to be hiding in the basements Philippine Marines travel along a highway in their armoured personnel carriers (APC) tracking other weaker Asian “We are closely watching certain lake. “We’re gaining ground and we’re of the city. in Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao yesterday. currencies. Philippine Airlines Duterte apologises for off ensive orders seven planes AFP buildings and taking Christian “The military said if we don’t Iligan hostages. use them (bombs), we would be AFP share. Upstart Cebu Pacific Duterte immediately imposed dragged even deeper into this. Manila eventually overtook it to be- martial law across the entire We will be fi nished off ,” he said. come the Philippines’ largest hilippine President Ro- southern region of Mindanao, “If we won’t use them, our carrier. drigo Duterte apologised home to 20mn people, saying the soldiers will all be killed.” hilippine Airlines will “The management of Phil- Pyesterday for a military of- assault was the start of an IS bid A few hours before Duterte buy seven planes from ippine Airlines believes we fensive that has left the nation’s to establish a caliphate there. spoke, Philippine OV-10 Bronco PCanada’s Bombardier as should get back the mar- main Marawi city in ruins, but The military deployed planes planes were seen making diving part of an eff ort to regain its ket share we used to own,” said it was needed to crush mili- and attack helicopters to blast attacks on Marawi, followed by dominance of the growing air Bautista said. tants linked to the Islamic State enemy positions, using Ameri- deafening explosions. travel market, the carrier said The new 86-seat Q400s group. can surveillance and intelligence Sixty-two soldiers have died yesterday. and other types of narrow- Duterte also vowed that US- assets, despite the risk to civil- in the confl ict, including 10 PAL said it sealed the deal bodied aircraft would enable backed air strikes on Marawi ians and even their own soldiers. killed in a “friendly fi re” bomb- for seven Q400 turboprops, PAL to do that, he added. would continue, as the confl ict The bombing has seen entire ing, according to authorities. worth $235mn at list prices, The acquisition of the sev- entered its fi fth week with no districts destroyed but the gun- They have reported three po- at the Paris Air Show. en Q400s would be on top sign of an end and its reported men have remained holed up in licemen and 26 civilians also The carrier aims to increase of five Q400 planes worth death toll climbed towards 370. pockets of Marawi, sheltering dying in the confl ict, with 19 its fleet serving smaller is- $168mn which PAL ordered “I am very, very, very sorry in bomb-proof basements and residents dying of disease in dis- lands in the archipelagic na- last December but which that this happened to us. I hope moving through tunnels, ac- placement camps. tion. “We used to be the only have not yet been delivered. that soon you will fi nd it in your cording to the military. The government has reported carrier in the Philippines. We PAL, which has a fleet of heart to forgive my soldiers and President Rodrigo Duterte holds peso bills for the Marawi evacuees Hundreds of civilians are still 258 militants being killed, in- used to be the dominant do- 81 planes, already operates government and even me,” Du- during his visit at the Iligan City National School of Fisheries evacuation believed to be trapped in the cluding a Chechen, a Libyan, mestic player,” a statement five Q400s and four smaller terte said in a speech at an evac- centre, yesterday. militant-controlled areas, ac- Malaysians and other foreigners. quoted PAL president Jaime Q300 aircraft from Bombar- uation centre near Marawi for cording to local authorities and The militants’ main leaders, Bautista as saying in Paris. dier. people who have fl ed the fi ght- Philippines, turn from a bustling It began when hundreds of aid workers. including a Filipino on the US However the rise of budget These service airports that ing. trading centre into one resem- militants waving black Islamic Duterte said his ground troops government’s list of most-want- airlines starting in the late cannot handle wide-bodied The fi ghting has seen Marawi, bling war-torn cities in Iraq or State fl ags rampaged through would lose the battle if they ed terrorists, remain in Marawi, 1990s eroded PAL’s market planes. considered the Muslim capital of Syria. Marawi on May 23, torching fought without the air support. according to authorities.

Marcos ‘should pay’ 2bn pesos over poll protest UAE court scraps death

By Llanesca T Panti body’s failure to turn over to “asked for the annulment of sentence for Filipina maid Manila Times technology provider Smart- elections and revision of votes matic 97,365 voting counting in 39,221 clustered precincts machines (VCMs) on Decem- but also maintained that the Reuters mobile telephone and handed her ormer senator Ferdinand ber 1, 2016. 2016 national and local elec- Dubai a fi ve-year jail term, the state- Marcos Jr should pay The Comelec did not turn tions were null and void.” ment said, identifying her as Jen- Ffor the P2.08bn worth over the 97,365 leased VCMs to Also, Macalintal suggested nifer Dalquez. “Ms Dalquez was of Commission on Elections Smartmatic on time because that Marcos should be liable n appeals court in the declared innocent without pay- (Comelec) lease dues, among the Presidential Electoral Tri- for the P5.62mn monthly dues United Arab Emirates ac- ment of blood money,” the state- others, in connection with bunal has ordered to secure of Comelec as lease payment Aquitted a maid from the ment said. It said she would serve Marcos’ poll protest against 97,366VCMs and the election for the safekeeping of VCMs in Philippines of the murder of the jail sentence minus the time Vice President Maria Leonor management system and ac- a warehouse in Santa Rosa, La- her employer and scrapped her she had already spent in prison. Robredo, according to an elec- cessories leased for the May guna, among other expenses. death sentence, the Philippines Offi cials at Al Ain Federal Ap- tion lawyer. 2016 elections from Smart- The amount was disclosed Foreign Ministry and UAE media peal Court were not immediately Romulo Macalintal, legal matic-TIM Inc. by the Comelec pursuant to a said yesterday. available for comment. counsel for Robredo, made the “When Marcos filed his resolution issued by the elec- The maid, 30, was sentenced The UAE’s Federal National assertion in a manifestation election protest, he asked for toral tribunal last April 18. to death by a lower tribunal in Council last month approved a with a motion for clarifica- technical examination and fo- Robredo was notified by the the city of Al Ain in May 2015 new draft law which the rights tion filed yesterday before the rensic investigation of VCMs Office of the Solicitor General for fatally stabbing her Emirati group said was a step forward in Supreme Court acting as the used in 92,508 clustered pre- on June 8. employer in 2014, UAE-based improving living conditions for Presidential Electoral Tribu- cincts. “If only to avoid confusion newspaper The National said. domestic workers, noting that nal. And on at least two occa- on who will be liable for these She had argued she was act- enforcement mechanisms were The Comelec, through the sions in August 2016 and Sep- amounts, we are constrained ing in self defence after he tried needed. Office of the Solicitor General, tember 2016, Marcos opposed Ferdinand Marcos Jr: asked to pay Comelec lease dues. to seek a clarification,” Macal- to rape her, the foreign ministry It also said improvements to already manifested before the the closure and stripping ac- intal said. said in a statement. the bill were required to bring electoral tribunal that Mar- tivities on the VCMs sched- the Comelec should make it Marcos should pay for it,” Robredo beat Marcos by An appeals court in Al Ain on the country into line with the cos’ protest will cost Comelec uled by Comelec. clear if Marcos will be the one Macalintal said in a statement. 263,473 votes in the vice pres- Monday overturned the verdict, International Labour Organisa- P2.08bn because of the poll Given these developments, to pay the P2.08bn. He added that Marcos idential race last year. convicted her only of stealing a tion’s Workers Convention. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 21 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH Lanka minister under fi re Lightning for attack on rights lawyer

AFP evangelical churches had long Colombo been targeted by radical groups. They suggested Rajapakse had confused Catholicism and kills 22 in ri Lanka’s justice min- evangelism and was not fi t to ister faced calls for his serve as minister. Sresignation yesterday Human Rights Watch said after accusing a human rights the minister’s threat against lawyer of misleading the pub- a lawyer trying to defend a lic about a spate of crimes minority group would “have against Christian places of reverberations beyond Sri Lanka”. worship. “Sri Lanka’s friends should Bangladesh Justice Minister Wijayadasa be clear they are watching the Rajapakse threatened to disbar government’s response close- AFP Disaster casualties monsoon rains in the country’s Lakshan Dias after Dias said ly,” Brad Adams, from the New Dhaka southeast. nearly 200 Christian holy sites York-based group, said in a Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapakse z Among the dead were a cou- The latest casualties come days had been vandalised since a new statement. ple and their young daughter after authorities raised the death government took offi ce in 2015. Dias said Rajapakse had at- ity which has been subjected to Gnanasara maintains close ightning strikes have who were working on a peanut toll from last week’s landslides The justice minister de- tacked him without verifying a series of arson attacks in the ties with Wirathu, an extremist killed at least 22 people farm to 158 after the discovery of two manded on national televi- facts. He pointed to a recent re- Buddhist-majority island in monk in Mandalay whose hate Lin Bangladesh in the last z Hundreds of people die every bodies in the worst-hit district sion that Dias apologise for port by a Sri Lankan evangeli- recent months. speech has galvanised religious 48 hours, authorities said yes- year from lightning strikes in of Rangmati, local administrator making “infl ammatory state- cal alliance that recorded 215 A radical Buddhist group tensions in Myanmar. terday, a week after monsoon Bangladesh Manzurul Mannan said. ments”, saying the Catholic incidents of violence against blamed for torching Muslim The government has vowed rains triggered a series of deadly z Last year authorities declared The vast majority of those church had personally as- Christians since President businesses, cemeteries and to protect Muslims and other landslides in the country. a natural disaster when the toll killed were in Rangamati, where sured him no such incidents Maithripala Sirisena took offi ce mosques said yesterday its fugi- religious minorities and pre- The deaths came as storms topped 200 deaths, with 82 2,500 people are still being had taken place. in January 2015. tive leader Galagodaatte Gnana- vent violence from escalating. swept the country on Sunday people dying on a single day housed in government shelters. However, civil rights group It also listed 41 incidents sara would turn himself in to po- It promises tougher laws to and Monday, the head of the dis- in May The landslides were the dead- were quick to point out that targeting Muslims, a minor- lice if his protection was assured. combat hate speech. aster management department liest in modern times in Bangla- Reaz Ahmed said. desh, eclipsing a death toll of 127 Among the dead were a cou- Experts say the true fi gure from a similar event a decade ago. ple and their young daughter is likely much higher as many Experts have blamed unregu- who were working on a peanut deaths go unreported. One in- lated construction and the large- farm when they were struck by dependent monitor said 349 scale felling of trees in Bangla- Dhaka yet to get back money from Philippines lightning. people were killed by lightning desh’s hill districts for loosening Hundreds of people die every strikes in 2016. earth and exacerbating the scale year from lightning strikes in Disaster offi cials spent several of the disaster. By Mizan Rahman Of the total money, he said, minister said the legislature. department of justice in the Bangladesh and experts say cli- months last year looking at ways The disaster agency has begun Dhaka $20mn was reimbursed from He said to realise the money, Philippines which is extending mate change has exacerbated the to reduce the toll and later came assessing the full extent of the Sri Lanka to the Federal Reserve Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh co-operation to recover the rest problem. up with a programme to plant a damage in the hills around Chit- Bank, New York. fi nancial intelligence unit, fi - amount of the theft money, the They also blame deforesta- million palm trees. tagong, which cover one-tenth of angladesh did not get Of the $81mn that went to nance ministry, offi ce of the at- minister added. tion and the loss of taller trees The meteorological depart- Bangladesh’s landmass, follow- back $66.37mn of the the Philippines, $14.63mn has torney general, foreign ministry In addition to this, he said, like palms that used to act as ment has also trained 20,000 ing last week’s incessant rain. Bstolen money of $101mn been deposited to the Fed- and criminal investigation de- diff erent authorities in the lightning conductors. school students on measures to The monsoon deluge came from Bangladesh Bank reserve eral Reserve Bank, New York in partment of police are working Philippines have taken le- Last year authorities declared avoid being struck by lightning. just a fortnight after Cyclone till now. Bangladesh Bank’s account, he together. gal steps against the people a natural disaster when the offi - Last week, more than 160 Mora smashed into Bangladesh’s Finance Minister A M A added. Even the attorney general’s and organisations concerned cial toll topped 200 deaths, with people were killed and hun- southeast, killing at least eight Muhith disclosed this while “Till now $66.37mn of offi ce under the Palermo Con- about the incident of stealing 82 people dying on a single day dreds of homes were destroyed people and damaging tens of responding to a question in the the stolen money is yet to vention has sent a mutual legal money from the Bangladesh in May. in landslides triggered by heavy thousands of homes. parliament yesterday. be found out,” the fi nance assistance (MLA) request to the Bank.

French chopper carrier docks at Colombo port Lankan court grants bail to six army men in scribe assault case

Agencies They were further ordered to The role of military men Colombo appear before the CID on every was suspected as Noyahr had Sunday. criticised military leaders in On March 20, the Mount La- his writings as the defence ix military intelligence vinia Magistrate had issued an correspondent of the daily. personnel in Sri Lanka ar- order to release the suspects on The attack on him was one Srested for allegedly being bail despite the strong objec- of the many high profi le at- involved in the assault and ab- tions of prosecution on which tacks against journalists during duction of a prominent journal- the CID was yet to conclude the regime of former President ist in 2008 during the civil war investigations. Mahinda Rajapakse. against the LTTE were yesterday However, the CID fi led a re- Sri Lanka was ranked among granted bail by the high court, vision application in the high one of the worst countries to according to a media report. court challenging the mag- work for journalists during The six army men, includ- istrates order to release the Rajpakse’s regime. ing a major, were arrested in suspects on bail. Rajapakse’s successor February following a probe by Following the revision ap- Maithripala Sirisena pledged the Sri Lankan police crimi- plication fi led by the CID, the to revive all investigations on nal investigation department high court issued an order to attacks on media personnel (CID) into the abduction and suspend the magistrates order which had been stifl ed under assault of Keith Noyahr, former and further ordered to remand the former president’s rule. deputy editor of English week- the suspects. The investigations include ly newspaper The Nation, in Noyahr was abducted on the assassination of Lasantha May 2008. May 22, 2008 and a day later, Wickrematunga, a high-profi le Each suspect was ordered he was dropped off near his Sri Lankan journalist who was to be released on a cash bail of residence, badly beaten up and critical of Rajapakse’s regime. Rs35,000 and three sureties of bruised. After the attack, he Meanwhile, another jour- Rs1.5mn each. fl ed to Australia with his family nalist who went into exile They were barred from leaving fearing for his life. due to alleged threats under the country and the high court The abduction in 2008 came Rajapakse regime yesterday Security personnel stand near a British helicopter aboard French helicopter carrier Mistral at a port in Colombo yesterday. The Mistral is observed that bail can be can- shortly after Sri Lanka’s bid to lodged a complaint with the on a week-long visit to Sri Lanka as part of its Jeanne D’Arc 2017 deployment which began in February. celled if they interfere with evi- be elected to the UN Human CID, claiming that he was dence and witnesses in the case. Rights Council in Geneva failed. assaulted in 2009 by a gang. Singaporean dream sours for some Bangladeshis

By Fathin Ungku and Ruma away – based on basic pay of just he faced a “market slowdown” gapore, and many of them pro- Singapore does not disclose Paul, Reuters S$18 a day and overtime of S$3 late last year, without elaborat- vide similar pictures of grow- the breakdown of nationalities Singapore/Dhaka per hour. ing. The Singapore Contractors ing hardship. Many face agency of its migrant workers, but the For Singapore, a system of Association and the Association fees that cost between 26 and 51 Bangladeshi High Commission’s temporary labour to do many of Singapore Marine Industries months of their total basic wage labour councillor Ayesha Shelly jobs in the construction, ship- declined comment. in Singapore, and they leave the estimates its workers in Singapore ohammad Ashadul Is- ping, manufacturing and serv- Singapore’s ministry of man- island with heavy debt burdens. decreased more than 30,000 last lam placed all his hopes ice industries – including hotels power said the agency fees for- To be sure, many workers still year to some 120,000. Mfor a better life for his and restaurants – works as an eign workers incur in their home in jobs say they are happy with “Every day my staff are in the family in Bangladesh on getting eff ective buff er. When times are countries are beyond its jurisdic- their working conditions and airport sending workers back,” a construction job in Singapore. good it means Singapore can fi ll tion. “We hope that source coun- are motivated by success stories said David Leong, managing He sold his father’s land and jobs that would otherwise be tries would do more to address of fellow countrymen who built director of Singapore-based re- fi sh farm and also borrowed vacant but when the economy is the issue of high agency fees in- homes and started businesses cruiting agency PeopleWorld- money from banks and rela- weak and unemployment rises curred, and we will refer cases to back home after working for a wide, adding that the number of tives to pay Singapore $17,000 – as has been happening in the their embassies here for follow up few years in Singapore. workers he supplied to shipyards ($12,000) in fees to multiple past year – it is easy to cut back where appropriate,” it said in an While conditions are tough last year dropped 40%. agencies who helped arrange the on foreign workers. e-mailed statement to Reuters. – many live 12 to a dorm room This is likely to have an im- job and his trip to the island state However, for the workers it Islam, 25, is among thousands and work 12 hour days with pact on Bangladesh’s economy Mostaff a, a migrant worker who said he was returning to Dhaka after he was early last year. is a brutal system that can leave of migrant workers, mainly from only one day off a month – it is because remittances are the na- laid off by his employer, packs his luggage at Changi Airport in Singapore. But in December, his em- them in big debt and regret- Bangladesh and India, who left still often much better than the tion’s second-biggest source of ployer told him that there wasn’t ting they ever made the move to Singapore’s shipyards and build- alternatives in Bangladesh. foreign income after garment dlemen and brokers who share cruiters who promise them higher enough work and he was laid Singapore. ing sites last year because of a 30% The number of work permit exports. Bangladesh’s remit- recruiting, training and trans- paying jobs,” said the offi cial in the off from a job doing a range of “I go back for what? No fi sh, contraction in the marine sector holders in Singapore, excluding tances fell more than 11% in 2016 portation and then split fees, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare tasks, such as directing traffi c no land. I go back or die, same- largely related to a drop in demand domestic workers, fell by 12,600 to $13.6bn, according to the na- making it diffi cult to properly and Overseas Employment. around building sites, and op- same,” Islam said in an inter- from the energy industry, and a to 753,000 in 2016, with most of tion’s central bank, with much regulate the industry. A broker, who declined to dis- erating excavators. Islam was view just before heading back to downturn in construction. It was the losses in the construction of the decline because of the At least 98 recruiting agencies close his name, said his com- given a month by Singapore’s Bangladesh. the fi rst year since 2009 when the and shipping industries, accord- impact of lower energy prices on have been suspended over the pany charges around 1mn taka ministry of manpower to fi nd Islam’s former boss, Maqbool number of low-skilled jobs taken ing to the ministry of manpower. Middle East employment. past decade for alleged wrong- ($12,400) in fees but doesn’t another job but, unable to do Ahmed Khan, who owns build- by foreigners fell. But two diplomats from coun- Workers say there are not many doings such as fraud and traf- think they are charging too so, he returned home still owing ing company Elchim Construc- Reuters interviewed around tries that are a source for such established recruiting agencies fi cking, according to a senior much, as the cost covers basic Singapore $6,000. He had only tion Services, confi rmed the two dozen Bangladeshi workers workers say they are taking the for Bangladeshis, and many job Bangladesh government offi cial. job training, language support earned S$5,000 during his time Bangladeshi’s story. Khan said who were laid off recently in Sin- brunt of the contraction. seekers rely on a myriad of mid- “People easily fall prey to re- and transportation. Gulf Times 22 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief: Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko Ashghal achieves

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar [email protected] strategic goals Telephone 44350478 (news), 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) QNA the designing and construction of a Fax 44350474 Doha number of water treatment projects in diff erent parts of the country. Regarding the work of Public ublic Works Authority Works Authority “Ashghal” in the (Ashghal) is paying special operation and maintenance of roads attention to wrapping up and drainage networks, 100% of Pits ongoing programmes the maintenance plan established GULF TIMES and projects while also moving from for 2017 is underway. In addition, outsourcing to relying on its own the competent departments have resources, especially as it has the completed the development of means to eff ectively and effi ciently appropriate plans to reduce the deliver and maintain projects. negative impact of rain, after Soft or hard, Brexit In this regard, Ashghal held Ashghal’s success in the proactive its regular meeting to review the response in dealing with the rain execution of its strategic objectives season at the beginning of this year. for the current year under the Ashghal has re-paved all roads set doubts weigh on chairmanship of its President Dr Saad out in the plan for the fi rst six months bin Ahmed bin Ibrahim al-Mohannadi of this year and has been attending with the participation of department to all comments and reports received directors. from the public in addition to the Europe’s future The meeting discussed Ashghal’s continuation of installing road lights, achievements in the fi rst half of the marks and signs to ensure road safety. year and reviewed main performance Ashghal has also carried out pre- Hard, soft or scrambled? That is the question indices as an indicator of progress emptive maintenance of some roads, hanging over the ultimate outcome of the Brexit talks made in the achievement of goals and along with completing 30% of the strategic initiatives. It also touched on work of cleaning and maintenance that began on Monday. the main projects due to be fi nished of sewerage networks and drainage Almost a year since 52% of British voters chose to in 2017. pipes by (110km length of sewerage leave the European Union - the 28-country bloc it Six strategic goals were planned Saad bin Ahmed bin Ibrahim al-Mohannadi networks and more than 100,000 joined in 1973 - there is raging confusion in Europe for the authority during the current drainage holes) according to the phase; Qatarisiation, execution of all timetables set for these works. over what exactly the UK government wants from the projects according to the schedule, Six strategic goals It is also working on the completion divorce. decreasing the costs of projects, of plans to reduce water pools resulting Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is already responsiveness, development of zQatarisation standards and coming up with from rain to be ready by the end of service standards, coming up with zExecution of all projects solutions to address the negative August 2017, in conjunction with on the back foot. An attempt to fi rm up her footing by solutions to address the negative according to the schedule eff ects of rain periodic tests in the second quarter of calling an election has backfi red, while the 27 other EU eff ects of rain, and implementing zDecreasing the costs of zImplementing the the year on those plans and means to members have started out with more leverage. the infrastructure of the residential projects infrastructure of the residential implement them in co-operation with lands of citizens according to the zResponsiveness lands of citizens according to the the concerned partners. The mounting domestic crisis for May deteriorated schedules. In order to meet these ends, zDevelopment of service schedules As for the most important and latest further last week following a deadly high-rise fi re all Ashghal departments accelerated construction projects established by in West London. The public mood had already been work since the beginning of the year the Authority, eight projects have been and measured the achievements AlEfrangi: Well-deserved. In the in northwestern Doha, which aims completed by the second quarter of shaken by a wave of terror attacks in recent weeks; the regularly according to the major highway sector, the G-Ring Road was to serve 2962 lots, and New Salata the year according to the time table. latest involved a van that rammed pedestrians near a performance indices so as to assess the opened at a total distance of 22km as project that would serve 628 lots. The designs for fi ve other projects is mosque in North London on Monday morning, killing accomplishments and put executive well as Lusail Expressway, and Dukhan One of the major local road projects to be completed during the third and one and injuring ten. plans for the remaining goals. Highway Central. that is set to conclude by the end of fourth quarters of the year. In Qatarisation, the authority In addition, a 37-km stretch of the the year is the road and infrastructure The Department of Buildings has Prior to the election fi asco, May said she would managed during the fi rst half of Orbital Highway opened to traffi c project in western Al Wakrah, Rawdat completed six projects so far, while pull the UK out of the single market for goods and the year to achieve the target ratio besides the fi rst phase of Al Rayyan Abal Heeran, western Al Mashaf, A working to establish 8 other projects, services and the EU’s customs union - a “hard” Brexit in addition to developing Qatari Road, Onazia Tunnel on Lusail Khor commercial street, and road and scheduled to be completed by the end staff through relevant trainings and Expressway and the road connecting infrastructure works in northern areas. of 2017, with plans to reduce costs and that prioritises securing control over immigration, workshops. Mesaieed to Salwa Road. As for sewage projects, Public expenses by 5%. laws and the budget over economic concerns. But As for infrastructure, Ashghal As for street projects and area Works Authority (Ashghal) has With regard to buildings design, 18 the remaining 27 EU members don’t want the UK to accomplished 99% of its goals for infrastructure, Ashghal is working successfully completed the work of projects were completed, including the fi rst half of the year. It fi nished on 23 projects of local streets and the surface and groundwater sewage 5 health centres in diff erent areas, “cherry pick” the benefi ts of membership with none of 38 projects since the turn of the infrastructure. Four of these projects tunnel in the area of Abu Hamour, schools and the reconstruction of the responsibilities. year, including 16 achievements in are fi nished; Thumaid, Rawdat in addition to the development of Umm Salal Municipality building. The Brexit imbroglio is also undermining London’s highway projects, six in infrastructure Ekdeem, Rawdat Rashed Umm Qarn, the small water treatment plant in Some 33 new construction sites and drainage networks, while 23 and drainage networks in Muaither. Al Shamal and the Al Dhakhira. An are being designed. During the coveted status as the global fi nancial hub. achievements are expected before the Through these projects, the estimated QR25mn of projects’ costs fi rst half of the year, six projects, The “City,” home to over 250 foreign banks and the end of the year. authority has saved up to QR208mn were provided during the fi rst quarter including 3 schools, 14 mosques and Lloyd’s of London insurance market, now faces a crisis The diff erent departments delivered out of QR350mn during the fi rst of this year, and several initiatives, to imams’ homes, have been delivered as fi rms debate whether to shift jobs to continental designs and plans that would decrease quarter of the year. It also plans to reduce costs during the third quarter, following the cost reduction model in water pools resulting from rain, establish and develop a number of were further assessed and evaluated. educational buildings projects. Europe to keep serving customers there after Britain while the authority also delivered projects during the remaining months Ashghal is seeking to solve the The Authority is currently focusing leaves the EU. Amid many a doomsday prediction, an 500 residential land lots during the of the year such as 339km of roads, problem of 173 areas with high rate on to completing 9 schools, 8 mosques Ernst & Young report fi rst quarter of the year at 100% of road and infrastructure projects rainwater collection before the end and imams’ homes, as well as 4 health forecasts a loss of the government lands planned for that serve nearly 15,000 residents, of 2017 as part of the Authority’s centres and surgery building in Hamad The Brexit citizens during the fi rst half of the year 108 residential lots in northern and preparations for the rain season. In General Hospital in addition to the 232,000 jobs fi nancial out of 1,829 land lots expected to be eastern Al Kheesa that aim to serve addition the work of sewage treatment renovation the General Post Offi ce betting now is jobs in Britain as result delivered by the end of the year. 736 lots, the lifting station project in North Doha is underway as well as before the end of this year. that May will of Brexit. For sure, London’s have to soft en allure is not going to her plan fade that soon, that easily. But a central Helmut Kohl’s vision and legacy theme of the grant Brexit narrative is the “passporting rights,” that entitles companies authorised in one Soviet Union’s ageing and infi rm not confi rm fears of an overbearing country of the European Economic Area – currently By Christoph Bertram longer than any German chancellor Hamburg since Otto von Bismarck. But what Communist leadership off ered little Germany. I had no diffi culty comprising the 28 EU states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein remained uppermost in his thoughts, prospect for progress, Kohl stuck to reassuring him. And when, in 1989, and Norway - to sell their products and services and brought forth his greatest gifts, the détente policies of Brandt and German reunifi cation approached, the ith Helmut Kohl’s death, was the goal of ensuring Germany’s Schmidt, which his own party had trust Kohl had built up over the years throughout the bloc, accessing a $19tn integrated “the largest fi gure on future within a peaceful Europe. As bitterly opposed. When Mikhail paid off , allaying concerns in enough economy with more than 500mn citizens. the continent of Europe a journalist at the German weekly Gorbachev took over, Kohl initially European quarters that he was able to A hard Brexit deal with the loss of passporting rights Wfor decades,” as Bill Die Zeit at the time, I had frequent dismissed the new Soviet leader’s bold gain the necessary support. will tempt cities such as Frankfurt, Dublin and Paris - Clinton described the former German personal exchanges with him in his arms-reduction proposals as mere Today, Kohl’s strategy of building chancellor, has left us. Kohl possessed Bonn offi ce. “Foreign policy,” he used propaganda a la Joseph Goebbels. trust still echoes in offi cial German after decades of falling behind - to challenge each other most of the talents of a successful to tell me, “is more important than But as Kohl recognised Gorbachev’s rhetoric, though it has been more for the City’s business. politician: ambition, ruthlessness, domestic policy, because mistakes can seriousness, he hurriedly applied erratic in practice. It is futile to The trending Brexit betting now is that May will have tenacity, tactical skills, and a sense be very costly.” his trust-building strategy and speculate how he would have reacted for the minds of ordinary people. Kohl’s chief method to avoid established a close personal to Russia’s estrangement from the to soften her plan, perhaps by keeping the UK in the In contrast to his two predecessors, mistakes was to build trust with all relationship with the man without West at a time when it might still customs union, allowing a continued role for the EU’s Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, powers, big and small, that were whom no peaceful change of Europe’s have been averted; or whether, court or weakening immigration controls to keep ties he had no charisma (which Brandt relevant to Germany’s well-being. Cold War map would have been unlike Chancellor Angela Merkel, he had in abundance) or gift for words. Moreover, Germany would need possible. When that opportunity would have reacted with immediate to the single market. There is also some suggestion the What he did have, in contrast to his external support for any degree of presented itself, the agreements solidarity, and more immediate eff ect, UK will end up in the EEA like Norway, at least for a successors, was a clear vision for national reintegration should the that followed, remarkable given the to the Greek debt crisis of 2010. Would short period. the future of his country. It was this opportunity present itself. While for political climate, were possible only Kohl have responded to President that enabled Kohl to achieve the Schmidt the key strategic tool was the because of Kohl had kept his eyes on Donald Trump’s behaviour by publicly Britain will automatically leave the EU in almost two previously unimaginable: Germany’s assurance of calculability, for Kohl it the prize. distancing himself from the United years. But the failure to strike a deal before March 29, reunifi cation within a united Europe. was the creation of trust. And he set For Kohl, a closely united Europe States? Or would he have tried instead 2019, risks infl icting sweeping tariff s and uncertainty Many, particularly in Germany, who out to strengthen and build it. was a deeply emotional matter, as to strengthen the underpinnings of on both the EU and the UK. recall those extraordinary months of With the country’s major and well as the key condition for Europe’s transatlantic ties? late 1989 and early 1990, when Soviet indispensable ally, the United States, peace and Germany’s well-being. One thing seems clear: Kohl would Make no mistake, such a “cliff edge” scenario doesn’t control over Eastern Europe slipped Kohl sought the closest possible He succeeded in winning the trust of not have sought only short-term bode well for Europe’s economic future. away, still seem surprised that this relationship from the start of his French President Francois Mitterrand or domestically popular solutions. supposedly provincial and boringly tenure. After Schmidt’s government and the friendship of Jacques Delors, Instead, he would have understood normal man could have grasped the fell in 1982 over massive popular then the president of the European these challenges in terms of their chance to unite his divided country opposition to the stationing of US Commission and the architect of impact on the European order of and deftly outmanoeuvred opponents. medium-range nuclear missiles, Kohl Europe’s single market. which Germany was (and remains) a To Advertise Kohl, they seem to think, was lucky to stood fi rm, recognising that bowing Equally signifi cant, Kohl wove major benefi ciary. And he would have be in the right place at the right time. to public pressure and reneging on a network of contacts in all the integrated any policy response into [email protected] But lucky outcomes in diplomacy Germany’s commitment would be a countries surrounding Germany. He his long-term vision for the future of Display are rarely a matter of chance; luck blow both to the respect and trust of was well-read on these countries’ Germany and Europe. Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 must be earned. In the summer of the US and his credibility in Moscow. history and had a knack for It is for this indispensable quality 1989, Kohl was just as surprised by the Years later, when the walls in Europe understanding how it shaped their of statesmanship, not only for Classified speed of events as everybody else. But began to crack, Kohl had established attitudes toward Germany. He was having helped bring about German Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 he had used his time since becoming a unique relationship of trust in convinced that, as Europe’s largest reunifi cation, that Kohl deserves to be chancellor in 1982 to prepare should Washington, DC. And he found in economy, Germany had to be the most remembered and mourned. - Project Subscription history beckon. President George HW Bush a fi rm and constructive, if not the most generous, Syndicate [email protected] Domestic policy issues inevitably decisive supporter of reunifi cation member of the European club. demanded Kohl’s attention and skills; who would ensure that the Germany Kohl once asked me, to my surprise, zChristoph Bertram was formerly had it been otherwise, he scarcely that emerged from the process if his big bulk – he was 6ft 4in tall, director of the German Institute for 2017 Gulf Times. All rights reserved would have been the dominant remained fi rmly anchored in the West. and weighed more than 300lb (136kg) International and Security Aff airs in fi gure in his party and country for In the meantime, although the during his leadership years – might Berlin. Gulf Times Wednesday, June 21, 2017 23 COMMENT Pakistan’s persistent energy crisis

Pakistan’s ongoing energy signifi cantly faster – by about 4% per lend themselves to energy-intensive year – potentially creating a suffi cient sprawl, as they favor single-family crisis is undermining its number of jobs for a young and homes over fl ats. Wide avenues, economic development: growing population. fl yovers, and expressways promote Over the last nine years, Pakistan cars, while virtually precluding the Ministry of Finance has received assistance through pedestrians and bicycles. estimates that energy two International Monetary Fund Moreover, buildings and houses programmes and numerous World constructed of concrete with thin shortages have reduced Bank initiatives, as well as from the glass windows are ineffi cient to heat annual economic growth Asian Development Bank and various and cool. And they are equipped with donor agencies. In exchange for appliances that are not forced to meet by two percentage points, funding, the IMF demanded huge energy standards, and therefore can increases in tax rates on petroleum be very energy-intensive, especially on average, over the last products, as well as hikes in energy when it comes to the use of gas. Yet nine years prices. The World Bank, for its part, insulation materials and energy- forced the government to use loan effi cient appliances remain expensive, By Nadeem ul Haque guarantees to spur private investment owing to tariff protections for Islamabad in energy. incumbent producers using outmoded Now, these guarantees are coming technologies. back to bite the government. In a There is a clear need for systemic or almost a decade, Pakistan recent ad campaign, private power reform of all aspects of Pakistan’s has lacked the energy it producers once again threatened energy system. The country needs, with producers and to invoke them to secure payment must develop a sensible pricing Fconsumers across the country of unpaid bills. After some back mechanism, establish fact-based facing power outages for up to 12 hours and forth, including production and independent regulation, create per day. At the root of this crisis lies slowdowns, the government, as usual, an effi cient and decentralised supply poor governance. Yet the authorities has opted to cover the losses. system, and implement incentives and aid donors alike stubbornly Despite these huge costs, three for conservation. To aid in this eff ort, fail to recognise the obvious, and successive governments have produced the World Bank and the ADB must instead continue to pursue costly and no white paper or policy analysis respond to as-yet-unanswered ultimately ineff ective interventions. that sheds light on the issue, much requests to provide Pakistan with Pakistan’s experience is a case less devised a strategy for preventing competent technical assistance to study in how poor countries can further fi nancial losses. No independent A power transmission tower on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. develop a modern pricing mechanism often struggle to formulate and commission or task force has been and conduct a regulatory audit. implement reforms, including reforms created to examine the problem, either. crisis. When I was involved with the companies operate as part of In fact, there is every reason to After nine years of quick-fi x and needed to escape poverty. And, We are told that the crisis is too urgent energy sector as a senior policymaker, the government, with their suspect that the regulatory authority temporary solutions, Pakistan and its indeed, Pakistan’s ongoing energy to investigate what caused it. I found it useful to use a systems parent ministry controlling their has been captured. While prices and donors need to recognise that its energy crisis is undermining its economic Donors and the government approach to understand the structure management, resources, and fi nances. tariff s are determined on a cost-plus crisis can be resolved only through development: the Ministry of Finance claim that a solution is imminent: of supply, the quality of regulation, the In this context, it should be no basis, it is unclear whether costs are institutional reform. Otherwise, losses estimates that energy shortages have several billion dollars of supply are forces driving prices, and the impact surprise that the system continues properly scrutinised. Tariff s are set will only grow – and not just in the reduced annual economic growth by now coming on stream. But simply of conservation policies on demand. to incur major losses. Despite talk of without regard for continuing losses energy sector. If allowed to continue, two percentage points, on average, spending more to supply more energy As it stands, energy supply and energy markets, the system is based on or energy-sector ineffi ciencies, and that accumulation of losses could even over the last nine years. has been tried before – at huge cost distribution in Pakistan is managed administered prices: While consumers the government routinely overrides destabilise the state, with devastating And it gets worse. Over the same to the country. Meanwhile, energy- through a centralised government pay the same price throughout the the price-setting system to force consequences. – Project Syndicate period, the government has spent sector losses have often been passed bureaucracy. Private electricity country, the regulatory authorities consumers to cover the sector’s losses. more than 10% of GDP to cover the on to the consumer through price producers and one privatised set diff erent prices for production On the demand side, no serious zNadeem ul Haque is a former deputy energy sector’s fi nancial losses. This increases, surcharges, and other taxes. distribution company function and distribution companies. But conservation policy has been put in chairman of the Planning Commission means that, had Pakistan’s energy This is not a sustainable approach. as government contractors with whether those prices are determined place. On the contrary, systems and of Pakistan and a former senior sector been reformed properly, the It is time for Pakistan to undertake a guaranteed margin. The rest of by a careful balancing of supply and regulations seem practically designed resident representative of the IMF in country’s economy could have grown a more thorough audit of its energy the production and distribution demand is far from guaranteed. for waste. City land and building codes Egypt and Sri Lanka. Weather report Year of turmoil puts Britain on edge Three-day forecast Britain’s fi rst political assassination 22 attack before Khalid Masood was had seemed certain to triumph ended TODAY AFP High: 43 C London since 1990. shot dead by police. with the premier losing her majority, “We are far more united and have Politics took no respite, with May leading her to seek the support of the Low : 36 C Inshore: Hot daytime with slight dust far more in common than that which calling a snap election for June 8 under 10 MPs from Northern Ireland’s ultra- to blowing dust at places at times. rom a lawmaker’s divides us,” Cox had said in her the guise of boosting her Conservative conservative Democratic Unionist assassination to a string inaugural speech to parliament a year Party’s slim majority ahead of Brexit Party. of terror attacks and a earlier. talks. In the wake of May’s disastrous THURSDAY devastating fi re, Britain has Those words were repeated Monday A nation already weary of going to election gamble and three deadly High: 42 C F Low: 33 C suff ered a heart-wrenching year that by London Mayor Sadiq Khan as he the polls was dragged into another terror attacks, Britain awoke on has put the government and society as condemned an anti-Muslim terror battle for votes, only to see the June 14 to another catastrophe — a Sunny a whole under severe strain. attack by a white man who drove a van campaign suspended when a suicide devastating fi re ripping through a Even Queen Elizabeth II has been into a crowd of Muslim worshippers bomber attacked a crowd of music London tower block. struck by the bleak series of events near Finsbury Park Mosque. fans in Manchester. Seventy-nine people are known to FRIDAY which have hit her subjects in recent But others warn that divisions are In Britain’s worst terror attack in have died or are missing and presumed High: 42 C months, just as the country prepares deepening. more than a decade, Salman Abedi dead in the Grenfell Tower inferno, Low: 30 C for a period of uncertainty when it “Goaded by extremists on the left killed 22 people and injured more than which wrought such destruction the Sunny leaves the European Union. and right, and amplifi ed by social 100 others outside an Ariana Grande police said some victims may never be “It is diffi cult to escape a very media, hard-boiled minorities defi ned pop concert on May 22. identifi ed. sombre national mood,” she said over less by citizenship than by half-baked Shock was tinged with fear as the Less than a week after the fi re, Fishermen’s forecast the weekend in an unusual show of and pernicious belief systems are prime minister temporarily raised the Britain’s fourth terror attack in three OFFSHORE DOHA emotion to mark her 91st birthday making this country less, not more terror threat level to critical, bringing months hit. Wind: NW 20-30 KT celebrations. united,” The Times said in an editorial. soldiers onto the streets. Muslims were taking a break from Waves: 6-9 Feet It drew comparisons to her “annus Cox’s killing came during a bitterly Politicians cautiously restarted their evening prayers in Finsbury Park, INSHORE DOHA Wind: NW 15-25/35 KT horribilis” (“horrible year”) speech a divisive campaign ahead of the EU pleas for votes, only to be called back north London, when a man drove a van Waves: 3-5 Feet quarter of a century ago in 1992 when membership referendum, in which into crisis talks when terror struck the into the crowd on Monday, injuring 11 her children’s marriages broke down Britain ended up voting by 52% to capital once again on June 3. people before being apprehended. Around the region and her Windsor Castle summer leave the European Union. In a echo of the Westminster An elderly man who had collapsed Weather Weather residence was hit by fi re. The historic moment when Britain attack, three men drove a van through just before the incident died at the today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Throughout the past year Britons formally notifi ed the EU in March of pedestrians before going on a stabbing scene. Abu Dhabi Sunny 37/31 Sunny 38/31 have responded with private soul- its intention to leave came days after a spree in bars near London Bridge. “We had a terrible few weeks,” Baghdad Sunny 39/25 Sunny 38/24 Dubai Sunny terrorist attack on the home of British Three assailants — Khuram Shazad Mayor Khan said at the scene of the Sunny 38/31 39/31 searching and public showings of Kuwait City Cloudy 43/31 Cloudy 43/31 solidarity, most recently holding street democracy. Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef attack. Manama Cloudy 38/33 Cloudy 38/33 parties over the weekend to mark one An Islamist-inspired attacker Zaghba — wore fake suicide vests to “One of the things that all these Muscat Sunny 34/32 Sunny 37/34 year since the murder of Jo Cox. drove a rental car into pedestrians on increase panic among revellers. terrorists share is a perverse ideology Riyadh Cloudy 43/28 Cloudy 42/27 The Labour party MP was stabbed Westminster Bridge before stabbing Both the London rampage and the that wants to fuel division and divide Tehran Sunny 39/25 Sunny 37/23 and shot by neo-Nazi sympathiser to death an unarmed police offi cer Manchester bombing were claimed by our communities. We’re not going to Thomas Mair in her northern England guarding parliament. the Islamic State group. let them”. constituency on June 16 last year, in Five people were killed in the March As a result, an election in which May Live issues Occasional smokers who vape smoke more cigarettes

By Ronnie Cohen the market in 2007 as a healthier the new study, but the fi ndings are Dual users may be exposed to Reuters Health alternative to smoking tobacco, little is consistent with those of previous more nicotine and wind up at risk for known about the long-term eff ects of research he conducted on adolescents. chronic tobacco use and dependence, the practice known as “vaping.” “The e-cigarettes are having the the authors write. Previous studies obacco companies have been E-cigarette use grew 900% among eff ect of stimulating conventional have shown that e-cigarette use selling electronic cigarettes high school students from 2011 cigarette smoking,” he said in a phone increases the risk of smoking tobacco- as a way to wean smokers through 2015, according to a report interview. fi lled cigarettes. Around the world Toff paper cigarettes, but a from US Surgeon General Vivek “They’re propping up and Some prior studies suggest that Weather Weather new study suggests the strategy could Murthy. The 2016 report declares reinforcing the conventional cigarette e-cigarette vapor may be less toxic today Max/min tomorrow Max/min backfi re. e-cigarettes “unsafe” for youth and market.” than traditional cigarette smoke. But Athens M Sunny 31/19 Sunny 33/20 The report in Preventive Medicine young adults). Doran and his team studied 319 electronic alternatives nonetheless Beirut P Cloudy 26/22 Sunny 26/22 Bangkok S T Storms 34/27 S T Storms 34/27 found that young adults who The new study’s fi ndings are Californians, ages 18 to 24. At the release potentially hazardous chemicals. Berlin M Sunny 26/13 S T Storms 31/17 occasionally smoked conventional “consistent with the worry that, start, participants did not smoke Sales of vaping products are Cairo P Cloudy 34/21 Sunny 34/22 cigarettes smoked more of them if regardless of whether vaping is itself daily but had smoked at least one expected to reach $4.4bn this year, Cape Town M Sunny 14/12 Rain 14/08 they also used e-cigarettes – battery- unsafe, vaping causes worse outcomes cigarette in the prior six months. according to Wells Fargo Securities Colombo T Storms 29/26 T Storms 29/26 T Storms 31/26 powered gadgets that heat liquid because it leads to more consumption During the study, they reported analysts. Dhaka 31/26 S T Storms Hong Kong T Storms 31/29 T Storms 31/29 nicotine into vapour. of cigarettes,” Doran said. their frequency of cigarette and With fl avours like bubble gum Istanbul S Showers 29/19 Sunny 28/20 “The participants who were vaping Stanton Glantz, who directs the e-cigarette use five times at three- and chocolate peanut butter cup, Jakarta P Cloudy 32/25 S T Storms 32/24 ended up using more cigarettes. It’s Centre for Tobacco Control Research month intervals. e-cigarettes or vape pens are often Karachi P Cloudy 33/29 P Cloudy 33/29 actually a risk factor for increasing and Education at the University Those who vaped more also packaged to appeal to youth, who London P Cloudy 33/19 S Showers 27/15 Manila T Storms 33/26 T Storms 32/26 their cigarette use,” lead author Neal of California, San Francisco, said reported smoking 18% more experts believe are more vulnerable to Moscow S Showers 17/09 S T Storms 18/09 Doran said in a phone interview. the study “has tremendous policy cigarettes, the study found. becoming dependent on nicotine. New Delhi S T Storms 33/25 I T Storms 33/26 “They’re not using e-cigarettes to implications.” “In the larger scheme of things, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors New York P Cloudy 29/19 M Sunny 27/22 try to stop smoking,” said Doran, a “What this study shows very e-cigarettes could be good, bad or is considering banning fl avored Paris M Sunny 37/21 M Sunny 36/16 Sao Paulo S Showers P Cloudy 23/13 psychologist and psychiatry professor convincingly is that if they’re using neutral,” Doran said. “I don’t think we tobacco products. Residents opposed 19/14 Seoul P Cloudy 31/19 P Cloudy 30/19 at the University of California, San e-cigarettes it’s actually leading know the answers yet. This is one of to the legislation recently argued that Singapore T Storms 31/26 S T Storms 30/26 Diego School of Medicine. them to smoke more conventional the ways in which they could be bad e-cigarettes help them smoke less. Sydney P Cloudy 17/12 P Cloudy 16/08 Though smokers have been turning cigarettes, not less,” he said. – by people increasing their cigarette But, Glantz said, “This paper shows Tokyo Rain 23/22 Cloudy 29/20 to e-cigarettes since they came on Glantz was not involved with use if they’re using both.” exactly the opposite is true.” Gulf Times 24 Wednesday, June 21, 2017 QATAR ‘Deported’, starving, stranded camels reunited with owners housands of camels contin- seen as an important link to a van- ued to cross Saudi Arabia’s ishing nomadic past. Prize camels Tdesert border into Qatar sell in auctions for hundreds of yesterday and were reunited with thousands of dollars. their owners after being stranded Pictures of Asian workers tend- for days at a frontier shut because ing to camels languishing on the of the ongoing diplomatic crisis, Saudi side of the border have been Reuters reports. published in newspapers, spark- Qatari men waited at the bor- ing outrage. der to identify their camels as the The Qatar government sent animals trotted across the remote a convoy of water tankers and frontier, braying and kicking up trucks carrying grass to the border dust. on Monday to nourish the camels “Thank God I have my camels that had crossed the border. back!” said Ali Magareh, 40, wait- Yesterday, Gulf Times re- ing with his seven-year-old son at ported that Qatar’s Ministry of the crossing point. “For one week Municipality and Environment they kept them waiting there. The (MME) had allocated temporary camels were starving. Some of the plots of land for more than 7,000 males were fi ghting and in very camels and 5,000 goats and bad condition,” he said. sheep brought back from Saudi A June 5 decision by Saudi Ara- Arabia. In a tragic turn of event, bia and other Gulf states to cut as many as 100 baby camels died diplomatic ties and all transport while trying to return to Qatar, links with Qatar has disrupted as they had to walk 400km in trade and split families. Tribes- 48C heat. men in Qatar whose relatives Offi cials at the MME’s livestock span the borders of the Ara- department is currently counting bian Peninsula say the boycott the numbers of camels that have is threatening traditions dear to already been brought back from them, including camel herding Saudi Arabia and those expected and falconry. to arrive soon so as to provide Hundreds of Qataris keep cam- them with adequate supply of els in desert areas in eastern Saudi fodder. Arabia during the winter months (Readers can send their com- to train and breed them for races ments/pictures on this topic to and beauty contests – customs [email protected]) Weary camels are reunited with their owners at the Abu Samra border.

Barca grateful We don’t accept any dictates regarding our for ‘excellent’ foreign policy: Qatar’s envoy in Venezuela sponsorship Qatar’s ambassador to Venezuela ised to issue such lists. The names He described the siege imposed Qatari businessmen Batal Mojab al-Dosari has stressed on the list do not exist in Doha, on Qatar as an aggression against FC Barcelona have expressed that Qatar does not intervene in and do not live, visit or have any the GCC’s basic regulations. The gratitude to Qatar for its sponsor- the aff airs of the Gulf states that links, the ambassador added. closure of the airfields is a denial ship of the Spanish giants since the imposed a siege on the country Regarding Qatar’s position on of international aviation conven- 2010/11 season, QNA reports. two weeks ago. He stressed that severing diplomatic relations tions, pointing out that imposing foster trade ties with Speaking to the media, club Qatar does not accept any dictates and imposing an air, land and the blockade is subject only to the spokesman Josep Vives said FC regarding its foreign policy. sea blockade against it, he said UN Security Council’s policy and Barcelona was “grateful” to Qatar In an interview with the Venezue- that Qatar was surprised by the standards. Foundation and Qatar Airways for lan daily Universal, ambassador decision because there had been Ambassador al-Dosari asserted being “excellent sponsors” of the al-Dosari said that the list issued no previous criticism, adding that dialogue is the solution to the Omani counterparts club. “They have been sponsors by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab that despite the malicious media Gulf crisis. He stressed that Qatar who have acted properly, who Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain on campaign against Qatar which is ready to discuss any requests, have fulfilled their obligations, and individuals and entities with terror adopted the misinformation, however, matters relating to its QNA struction and other commodities, who have helped FC Barcelona in links was misleading and not cred- Qatar is always ready to discuss internal aff airs come under the Doha have played a major role in remov- a reasonable and significant way,” ible. The United Nations confirmed diff erences and reach a peaceful purview of Qatar’s sovereignty and ing all obstacles facing these com- Vives said. The spokesman also that it was the only body author- solution. no one can intervene in it. panies and facilitating the sup- said negotiations are under way atari businessmen aspire to ply of goods to the Qatari market to finalise a sponsorship agree- strengthen trade relations through available alternatives. ment with Qatar Airways that Qwith their Omani counter- Further, they pointed out that would make it the off icial airline US expresses doubts over Saudi intentions parts and sign long-term agree- the visit to Muscat underscored of the club. “We are holding talks ments to establish co-operation in the depth of relations between Qa- with Qatar Airways. The off icial various trade sectors to ensure in- tar and Oman, during which they airline sponsorship is a product From Page 1 its border and airspace with Qatar, ment marked a shift in their po- creased trade and smooth fl ow of would review ways to enhance that exists, and it is one that the The statement came after US home to a huge US air base. sition, but it does mark a break goods between the two countries the joint relations to realise more club is selling.” Vives concluded Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, “The secretary is determined with Trump’s previous state- over the long term, Qatar Chamber Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani co-operation in various fi elds of by expressing the club’s hope who has been assigned by Presi- to remain engaged as we monitor ments on the crisis, in which he has said in a statement. trade and investment. The Qatari for “peace and harmony to be dent Donald Trump to oversee an the situation,” she said. appeared to take Saudi Arabia’s Members of Qatari business contribute to achieving these ob- businessmen are scheduled to hold restored” in the Gulf region. “We end to the crisis, spent two days “We are encouraging all sides side over Qatar’s. community were on a working jectives, thereby enhancing the bilateral meetings with their Om- are speaking from the heart; on the telephone with senior Gulf to de-escalate tensions and en- Many observers in Washington visit to Oman as part of a delega- movement of trade between the ani counterparts to discuss how to beyond any other considerations offi cials. gage in constructive dialogue. believe that Saudi Arabia and its tion that included more than 140 two countries. They also praised establish partnerships to promote or geopolitical interests.” Qatar Nauert said he had made at We once again call on all parties Gulf allies’ problem with Qatar people, “seeking to enhance trade the role of Qatar Chamber, under intra-trade and identify Omani Airways’ sponsorship of Barcelona least 20 calls to both Riyadh and to focus on the core regional and has more to do with its hosting relations between the two broth- the chairmanship of Sheikh Kha- products needed by the Qatari expires by the end of June as the Doha, and that he wanted to see a international goal of fi ghting ter- the pan-Arabic news channel erly countries, discuss the invest- lifa bin Jassim al-Thani, in speed- market, especially in the food, raw Catalan club agreed a new deal quicker resolution to the confl ict, rorism,” she said. Al Jazeera and fi gures from the ment opportunities available and ing up eff orts to fi nd suitable al- materials and other sectors. with a Japanese firm. which has seen Saudi Arabia close US offi cials denied the state- Muslim Brotherhood movement. the possibility of establishing alli- ternatives immediately after Saudi The Omani side is expected to ances between Qatari and Omani Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain cut organise an exhibition for their Turkish PM criticises Qatar blockade as ‘inhumane’ businessmen, and explore joint off ties with Qatar and closed their industries and introduce the Qa- ventures both in Qatar and Oman,” land borders and airspace. tari delegation to such industries, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said tions directed at Qatar. He also wondered, he said needs to be faced and solved. Failing to the statement noted. The Qatari businessmen highlight the readiness of Omani the siege enforced on Qatar is inhumane, “when did Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood reach an agreement for a definition of terrorism A number of Qatari business- stressed that the meetings organ- industrial companies to supply expressing hope that the crisis can be resolved become militant terrorist groups”. would lead to more regional diff erence, he men highlighted that the launch ised by the chamber over the past their products to the Qatari mar- through dialogue between all parties. Speaking He noted that the Muslim Brotherhood ruled stressed, adding that the Turkish position sees of two direct shipping routes be- few days, for companies import- ket and gauge the extent to which to journalists aboard a plane after returning Egypt after elections and was removed via a Saudi Arabia playing the role of the older broth- tween Hamad Port and the Omani ing food and goods as well as fi rms Qatari traders are interested in im- from a visit to Greece, the Turkish PM said no coup. Further, Yildirim said some countries have er, in order to guarantee harmony between all ports of Sohar and Salalah would importing raw materials for con- porting such goods. one knows exactly the nature of the accusa- a problem in defining terrorism, a problem that GCC member states. Infrastructure projects won’t be Qatar can weather boycott: QP CEO From Page 1 a self-imposed ban on devel- Al-Kaabi said his country opment of the world’s biggest KEY STATEMENTS aff ected by blockade: Ashghal has found alternative ways to natural gas fi eld, shared with z Qatar can stay under a export directly from Doha, Iran, in a move to see off an ex- “blockade forever” as it is well solving a halt in Qatari helium pected rise in competition. prepared and its oil and gas o ongoing or future infra- Times yesterday, the offi cial reach the country by road ear- Al-Muhannadi also said at output. Qatar, the world’s sec- The vast off shore gas eld,fi industries will not be aff ected structure development said the contractors executing lier are now being brought by ships least four major vessels carrying ond largest helium producer, which Doha calls the North z UAE’s Jebel Ali port ‘will be Nworks in Qatar are going some of the major infrastruc- and that too in large quantities,” he building materials among other had closed its two helium Field, accounts for nearly all of the biggest loser, not us’ to be aff ected by any issues aris- tural development works have said while adding that some of the cargoes are calling on the Hamad production plants, run by a Qatar’s gas output and around z Qatar has found alternative ing out of the economic and land assured the Qatari authorities major Ashghal contractors have Port in the coming weeks. There subsidiary of state-owned QP, 60% of its export revenue. ways to export directly from blockade enforced by some of its that they have adequate stocks informed that more materials for has been a steady movement of last week. The QP CEO said his coun- Doha, solving the issue of a Gulf neighbours, said Ashghal of construction materials in their further construction activities vessels carrying construction Further, he said Qatar was try would increase oil pro- halt in Qatari helium output president and senior engineer warehouses to carry out their ac- would be sourced from such coun- materials from Sohar and Salalah still importing whatever it duction by 10%, or 400,000 z Investors have full confi- Saad bin Ahmed al-Muhannadi. tivities for about a year. tries as China, India, Oman and ports in Oman to Hamad Port, he needed despite the boycott, barrels per day, after boost- dence in the country; foreign Replying to a query from Gulf “The materials that used to Kuwait in the coming days. added. and investors had full con- ing North Field output in the investments in Qatari oil and fidence in the country, with coming 5-7 years. gas industries have reached foreign investments in Qa- “We are small in size but QR250bn UNHCR praises RAF’s support for Lifeline Campaign tari oil and gas industries with big infl uence...Any dis- z Any disruption in Qatar’s (gas) having reached QR250bn ruption in our (gas) production production will aff ect many The United Nations High Com- the RAF became a sponsor of Spain, along with the RAF Founda- their dignity in providing assist- ($66.67bn). will aff ect many countries at countries at diff erent levels missioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the Commission by donating tion. ance and freedom of choice. Earlier this year, Qatar lifted diff erent levels,” al-Kaabi said. praised the eff orts made by Sheikh $220,000 (QR803,000). The UNHCR launched a dis- This assistance plays a major role Thani Bin Abdullah Foundation for The statement pointed out that tress call entitled “Lifeline” for in alleviating the suff ering faced Minister of Transport meets French counterpart Humanitarian Services (RAF) in the Commission sent a letter of a number of Syrian refugee by these families as a result of the support of the Lifeline Campaign, gratitude to the Foundation and a families. The RAF responded to lack of stable income and the loss HE the Minister of Transport and Communications organisations, which includes evidence of the carried out by UNHCR for Syrian certificate of partnership, and ex- this call by donating $220,000 to of the breadwinner. This support is Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti yesterday met French violations of the countries imposing the blockade refugees in Jordan. RAF said in a pressed its pleasure to co-operate provide direct cash assistance to part of the ongoing and continu- Minister of Transport Elisabeth Borne in Paris on Qatar, the damages sustained by the aviation statement that it had received a with RAF in several areas. The 1,368 Syrian refugee families in ous assistance provided by RAF yesterday. The minister of transport presented a and maritime sectors, and the substantial abuses final report on the campaign, in Lifeline Campaign was supported urban areas in Jordan. This sup- through a “solidarity” programme detailed explanation about the technical dossier of all the international laws and agreements which the UNHCR expressed its by the United States, Canada, the port allowed refugees to pay the for refugees who are not regis- that Qatar had submitted to the International regulating the aviation and maritime industries as gratitude for this support, noting United Kingdom, the European minimum cost of living such as tered and dispersed in random Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International well as jeopardising the safety and security of all that the UNHCR confirmed that Union, France, Japan, Norway and rent, food and services, as well as camps. Maritime Organization (IMO) and other countries not only Qatar.